A Preliminary Report of an Archaeological Survey in Southern Sonora, Mexico; 1953

Abstract

The location of Sonora in northwestern Mexico, and its peripheral relationship with the Southwest, make this desolate region important in the study of the development of primitive, Mexican Indian cultures. Sonora represents a marginal contact area, almost wholely separated from the rest of Mexico in its development of aboriginal populations. It is related in some ways to the archaeological manifestations of the Southwest, but for the most part the present international border served as an invisible barrier against the advance of major Mexican influence, up the west coast. Lying between the latitudes of 20020'0 and 31019'30 to 320 28'36, Sonora is bounded on the north by Arizona, on the east by Chihuahua, and the southernmost extremity by Sinaloa; on the west, the Gulf of California serves as a natural barrier. Its topographical pattern varies from coastal alluvial plains, to barren desert wastelands, and formidable jagged mountain peaks in the Sierra Madre. Though important during the Spanish conquest of the Southwest and the development of early Californian mission history, the archaeological picture of Sonora has been greatly neglected. Early travellers commented upon the mixed Indian populations and the evidence of archaeological ruins about the countryside. But the actual exploration of these has been postponed for several reasons: (1) Sonora's general inaccessibility due to poor transportation facilities, particularly poorly-graded roads and trails; (2) torrid heat conditions during the summer months when most investigators have time available for research; (3) the need to obtain archaeological permits, travel visas, and to satisfy other Mexican government requirements; (4) the more lucrative offerings of other archaeological zones in southern Mexico; and, (5) until the late 1930's, by occasional Yaqui Indian raids on Mexican settlements--which did not aid in furthering scientific interest. Consequently, not a great deal of survey work has been undertaken in this region.