Painting on Bones and Other Unusual Media in the Lower and Trans-Pecos Region of Texas and Coahuila

Abstract

Poorly provenienced painted deer scapulae from three or four rock shelters in the mountainous region south and north of the Big Bend of the Rio Grande bear a strong resemblance to ethnographically documented musical instruments. Ethnohistoric and modern analogs suggest that these specimens combine four sacred qualities--bone, deer, paint, and music. Shamans who experience symbolic death during their trance states are reborn from their bones, the most durable element of the body. This belief is manifested in modern and ancient Native American art as well as in European and Asian folk myths. The reverence accorded to deer is evidenced in the folk stories, rock art, burial customs, and performances of the modern Native American population of northern Mexico. Paint, esp cially red ocher, is clearly associated with ritual in funerary contexts, in ceremonia rock art, and as body paint or tattoo. Finally, scapulae are still used in rituals as percussion instruments, either paired with rasps or strung togetheras rattles. These four sacred elements conjoin to grant ritual importance to archaeological objects that would otherwise be considered utilitarian or dietary refuse.