Mexico is one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week, so why not spend aΒ few minutes today with your students learning about one of Mexico’s World Heritage Sites: the Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco in Baja California.
The mountain ranges of the Mexican state of Baja California are home to one of the largest collections of ancient rock paintings in the world, created from about 100 B.C. to A.D. 1300:
The central part of the Baja California peninsula is a region of Mexico that concentrates one of the most extraordinary repertoires of rock art in the country, the Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco. The region is insular-like and kept the native peoples relatively isolated from continental influences, allowing the development of a local cultural complex. One of the most significant features of the peninsular prehistory is the mass production of rock art since ancient times and the development of the rock art tradition of the Great Murals.
The Sierra de San Francisco is the mountain range which concentrates the most spectacular and best preserved Great Mural sites, scale-wise one of the largest prehistoric rock art sites in the world. Hundreds of rock shelters, and sometimes huge panels with hundreds and even thousands of brightly painted figures, are found in a good state of conservation. The style is essentially realistic and is dominated by depictions of human figures and marine and terrestrial fauna, designed in red, black, white and yellow, which illustrate the relationship between humans and their environment, and reveal a highly sophisticated culture. The paintings are found on both the walls and roofs of rock shelters in the sides of ravines that are difficult of access. Those in the San Francisco area are divided into four main groupsΒ β Guadalupe, Santa Teresa, San Gregorio and Cerritos. The most important sites are Cueva del BatequΓ¬, Cueva de la Navidad, Cerro de Santa Marta, Cueva de la Soledad, Cueva de las Flechas and Grutas del Brinco. (World Heritage Centre #714)
The dry climate of the Sierra de San Francisco mountains has helped to preserve the ancient paintings throughout this region.
You can find a gallery of additional photos of the Rock Paintings of the Sierra de San Francisco on the World Heritage Centre’s website.
World Heritage Sites are cultural or natural landmarks of international significance, selected by their home countries and recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. More than a thousand such sites have been designated in over 160 countries, and we feature one every Wednesday, drawn from one of our homeschool countries-of-the-week. You can find a complete list of World Heritage Sites online at the World Heritage Centre’s website and in Wikipedia.
The World Heritage Centre also has a free and comprehensive World Heritage education kit for teachers, as well as a wonderful full-color wall map of World Heritage Sites, available for the cost of shipping. Why not add them both to your own homeschool library.Β πΊ
What world treasures will you and your students be exploring in your homeschool this Leo Term?Β π²π½
β‘β The great globe itself: This is one of our regular Homeschool Geography posts featuring cultural and natural sites of international importance. Print your own copy of our River Houses World Heritage Calendar and follow along with us as we tour the planet, and add your name to our weekly mailing list to get great homeschool teaching ideas delivered right to your mailbox all through the year.Β π
β‘β Print this little lesson: Down at the bottom of this post you'll find a special "Print" button that will let you create a neat and easy-to-read copy of this little lesson, and it will even let you edit and delete sections you don't want or need (such as individual images or footnotes). Give it a try today!Β π¨
β‘β Books in the running brooks: You can always turn to your River Houses almanac, atlas, and history encyclopedia for more information about any of our countries-of-the-week. The almanac has a lengthy section with detailed profiles of all the nations of the world; the endpapers of the atlas are indexes that will show you where all of the individual national and regional maps may be found; the history encyclopedia has a comprehensive collection of national histories in an appendix; and you can find additional illustrations, flags, and other mentions through the indexes in each of these volumes. For an ideal little lesson, just write the name of the Weekly World Heritage Site on your homeschool bulletin board, find its location in your atlas, read the WHC's brief description aloud, look at a picture or two, and you're done. Over the course of the year, without even realizing it, your students will absorb a wealth of new historical, geographical, and cultural information.Β π
β‘β Homeschool calendars: We have a whole collection of free, printable, educational homeschool calendars and planners available on our main River Houses calendar page. They will help you create a light and easy structure for your homeschool year. Give them a try today!Β π
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β‘β Join us! The aim of the River Houses project is to create a network of friendly local homeschool support groupsΒ β local chapters that we call βHouses.β Our first at-large chapter, Headwaters House, is now forming and is open to homeschoolers everywhere. Find out how to become one of our founding members on the Headwaters House membership page.Β π‘