In December of 1887 Dr. Edward Palmer, the naturalist, set sail from the
port of Guaymas in Sonora, crossed the Gulf of California, and landed at
Bahía de Los Angeles on the peninsula of Baja California. Then, as now,
there was a modest gold-mining operation at the bay. During his brief
stay at the mining station, Dr. Palmer excavated a small natural cave
which had been used by the Indians who were then extinct in that part
of the peninsula.
Seven partially disturbed skeletons and a variety of associated
artifacts were collected and deposited at the United States National
Museum. The collection also included some potsherds and shells from a
midden on the shores of the bay. All of these items were listed and
briefly described in the Annual Report of the United States National
Museum for the year 1888 (pp. 127-129).
Aside from the intrinsic value of presenting archaeological material
from the little-known area of Baja California, the Palmer Collection has
particular importance because of its immediate geographic source. Bahía
de Los Angeles lies in that part of Baja California most accessible to
the Mexican mainland (map 1). Not only is there a relative physical
closeness, but the Gulf islands form here a series of "stepping stones"
from Bahía de Los Angeles across to Tiburon Island, home of the Seri,
and thence to the adjacent mainland coast of Sonora.
The bay lies in the north-central desert region of the peninsula, where
the environment is especially difficult because of extreme aridity,
scarcity of surface water, and the consequent dearth of plant and animal
life.
In view of these conditions, it has been suggested that the Seri may be
descendants of people who, hard-pressed by the environmental poverty of
this section of Baja California, may have moved across the Gulf to
Tiburon Island and Sonora (Kroeber, 1931, pp. 5, 49-50). This hypothesis
has appealed to one California archaeologist, although at present there
is insufficient evidence from archaeology or ethnography either to
support or to deny it (Rogers, 1945, p. 194). However, the
archaeological collection from Bahía de Los Angeles does indicate
trade and some contact across the Gulf.
In this paper emphasis is placed on the evaluation of the Palmer
Collection with respect to the known archaeology and ethnography of Baja
California.