"stepping stones"
from Bahia 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 Bahia 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.

ETHNOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND

The Indians who inhabited the area surrounding Bahia de Los Angeles
spoke the Borjeno language of the Peninsular Yuman group, of the Yuman
Family of languages (map 2). They were linguistically and historically
related to other Yuman-speaking groups of the peninsula and areas to the
north (Massey, 1949, p. 292). At the time of European contact these
people--like all other aboriginal groups on the peninsula--were hunters,
fishers, and gatherers. The nearest agricultural tribes were on the
lower Colorado River.

Culturally, the Borjeno were like other Peninsular Yumans of relatively
late prehistoric and historic periods in central Baja California.
However, they lived in more widely scattered groups because of the
greater scarcity of water in this part of the peninsula. Immediately to
the north of them at Bahia de San Luis Gonzaga--at approximately the
30th parallel--a decided break with the Peninsular Yuman tradition
occurred.

In 1746, during a voyage up the gulf coast from Loreto to the mouth of
the Colorado River, Father Fernando Consag noted that (1) the Spanish
and their "Cochimi" interpreters could not converse with the natives;
(2) the natives had dogs; and (3) the Indians had pottery vessels
(Venegas, 1944, III:107-109).

The Hungarian Jesuit was the first to note the southeastern linguisti