One side of the cloth has a whipped edge holding irregularly broken weft ends. This rough mending was accomplished with the usual native 2-ply cordage. Depth of the stitch into the material varies considerably—an indication of expedience rather than ornamentation.
Since cotton cloth and cotton are absent from the pre-Columbian archaeology and the historic ethnography of the peninsula, this specimen must have been obtained through trans-Gulf trade with mainland Mexico. The Seri of Tiburon Island and Sonora were probably the intermediary traders. These Indians are well aware of the peninsula opposite them to the west (Griffen, 1959).
Although the weave of this specimen is the simplest of all weaving techniques, it is lacking among other textile materials of Baja California, such as basketry and matting. The precise mainland derivation of this specimen must remain in doubt; all the tribes of Sonora—except the Seri—wove cotton (Driver and Massey, 1957, p. 216). Plain cotton cloth was extremely widely distributed in the prehistoric Oasis area, and dates at least from Pueblo I times in the American Southwest (Kent, 1957, p. 491).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
This small collection of archaeological materials has a marked diversity of types, with little duplication. Compared to similar artifacts from habitation caves, the specimens of the Palmer Collection are complete with the exception of the fragile garments and the netting.
There are few household goods of any variety. Most of the specimens are ornamental or have a ceremonial significance. A number of artifacts, specifically the tubular stone pipes, human hair cape, cane whistles, and the probable bull-roarer, were associated with shamans among the historic peoples of the peninsula. It is most likely that one of the burials was a shaman, who had been interred with his paraphernalia in this burial cave.
Most of the material from Bahía de Los Angeles can be duplicated from various sites in the Desert Area; however, a few have been recorded only in the archaeology or ethnography of Baja California. These include the human hair cape and the exclusive square-knot netting.
The majority of the artifacts and traits occur in the archaeological collections from Baja California and are mentioned in the ethnographic accounts for that region and for the north of the peninsula. Only the feathered cape and the specific type of bone awl, or “dagger,” are not recorded. This material bears little resemblance to the collections or ethnographic descriptions from the extreme south of the peninsula.
There is absolutely nothing in this collection and in the affiliation of its artifacts with cultural materials from central Baja California to support the contentions of Malcolm Rogers (1945, p. 191 passim). Without a doubt the Yumans of the peninsula entered long before the advent of pottery-making in the Colorado Desert region. Neither the Palmer Collection nor identical materials from historic levels in the central part of the peninsula can be explained as being due to a post-1450 invasion of Baja California by peoples representing the last phase of the Yuman sequence in southern California.