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BONES OF BAJA
(Continued from Page 25)
one in which Ricardo discovered the
bones and artifacts mentioned above.
Manuelo had also accompanied that
exploration and after our departure
last spring, he reported Ricardo's discovery
to the fishermen in the area.
One of them climbed the mountain to
place a picture of The Madonna and
a candle in the cave. We have found
that natives will not dig where there
are signs of former inhabitants. Now
the site was adequately marked!
Following a mountain goat trail,
1 discovered other large caves, but
no artifacts. Across the valley another
series of large caves tempted
me and I was about to take off for
them when I noticed a faint trail
leading between two fallen rocks.
Squeezing between the boulders, I
discovered a small cave filled with
rocks not indigenous to the area.
These, quite obviously, had been deliberately
piled in the mouth of the
cave. I started to remove them, but
it was too great a task for one man.
Returning to the other side of the
mountain, I met the rest of the group
coming up. They followed me back
to the cave.
"There's every indication that this
is a burial cave," Dr. Margain said,
after examining the rocks. Although
by now it was late in the day, Sam
Hicks, and Manuelo (who scampers
barefoot over the hard, rocky terrain)
returned to Manuelo's ranch for
shovels while the rest of us removed
stones by hand. After encountering
two large scorpions, however, we de-
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36 / Desert Magazine / January, 1965
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cided to await the shovels. Then, for
two hours we dug rocks and dirt
from the floor of the cave until we hit
hard rock. With the exception of sea
shells and a small piece of flint, we
found nothing. I was bitterly disappointed.
So was everyone else, except
Dr. Margain. At least, he didn't
show disappointment, but rather, a
scientist's reasoning.
"It just isn't logical . . . those stones
were put there by man to cover
something," he kept repeating.
Reluctantly, we left the diggings
and Conception Bay to drive over
the dangerous cliff road before dark.
That night I dreamed of pre-historic
men in a silent empty cave overlooking
Conception Bay.
At breakfast the next morning
Choral and I expected to find a group
of dejected explorers. Instead, Dr.
Margain was very enthusiastic.
"All indications point to early man
as having lived in this area. It might
even be another marginal area where
we hope to prove man existed 40,000
years ago," he said. "Baja should certainly
be explored and excavated as
soon as time and finances permit."
On the way to the airport we stopped
to examine and photograph a collection
of arrowheads and artifacts
owned by two sisters, Senoras Blance
Villavicencio and Amelia Villavicencios
de Padilla. The collection, which
Dr. Margain examined in painstaking
detail, was given to them many
years ago by their uncle, a Catholic
priest.
In the plane flying back to Mexicali,
I asked Dr. Margain when and
what would be the next step. "First,
I will take my findings to the Univeristy
(of Mexico) and we will tabulate
and analyze them from every
angle," he explained. "Then I will
make my report."
"And when will you start the digging
expedition?"
Dr. Margain explained there are
11,000 archeological sites in Mexico
alone, all of which in varying degrees
contribute to our knowledge of early
man.
"Just how important the Baja sites
are, must be determined," he said.
"But even if they prove very important,
it takes time, manpower and
money to conduct excavations. For
this we need, I am sorry to say, grants
and capital from outside sources,
other than the Mexican government.
We are very thankful to such men as
Mr. Gardner for what they have done
... we need more Mr. Gardners to
help in our work.
"But we have taken the first step