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Coahuila, 1937–1947

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Coahuila, 1937–1947 22 Contributions of Walter W. taylor to the arChaeology of Coahuila, 1937–1947 Leticia González Arratia The first archaeological project developed, organized, and designed for the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico was the U.S. National Museum’s Coahuila Expedi- tion, directed by Walter W. Taylor.1 The project required several seasons of field- work, followed by a long period of inconclusive analysis. The focus of this chapter is Taylor’s site work in northeastern Coahuila.2 The geographical point of reference is the settlement of Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, where Taylor established his base camp and planned his surveys and excavations. The work can be divided into three stages, which collectively became known as the Coahuila Project (Taylor 1988:19). The 1941 field season, Taylor’s third visit to Coahuila, can be distinguished by the intensity and goals of his fieldwork. The three stages of work are: • Stage 1. Pre–Coahuila Project Summer 1937: Reconnaissance of the area north of Cuatro Ciénegas to locate archaeological sites. Summer 1939: Reconnaissance of the area west and south of Cuatro Ciéne- gas to locate archaeological sites. 373 Leticia González Arratia • Stage 2. Development of the Coahuila Project January–May 1941. Excavation of previously recorded caves or shelters considered to have been used as habitations in the mountain drainages near the Valley of Cuatro Ciénegas. June 1941. Reconnaissance of additional sites west and northeast of the Valley of Cuatro Ciénegas. Surface material was collected, and several burial shelters were excavated. • Stage 3. Post–Coahuila Project September 18 to November 16, 1947. Reconnaissance in other parts of Coahuila for sites analogous to the Cuatro Ciénegas sites (Taylor 1947). THE YEARS 1937–1938 In 1937 Walter W. Taylor undertook his first fieldwork in the deserts of Coahuila in northern Mexico. That same year he also began his second semester of post- graduate work at the University of New Mexico, where he studied with Leslie Spier (Taylor 1988:1). At that time the area closest, and to some degree most similar, to Coahuila, about which Taylor already possessed some knowledge, was the Big Bend area of Texas. Taylor’s methodological approach, which he viewed as “one of the most productive in archaeology,” was to proceed from the known (the archaeology of Big Bend, Texas) to the unknown (the archaeology of Coahuila, Mexico) (Taylor 1988:6). On his first trip to the state of Coahuila, Taylor used the settlement of Mon- clova, Coahuila, as his point of departure and headed eastward toward Cuatro Cié- negas and from there to points north (Taylor 1937:45). He visited twenty shelters or caves during that visit but no open-air sites. Although not all of the sites exhibited archaeological evidence, each eventually received a reference number consisting of the prefix CM and a consecutive number.3 Taylor’s northernmost site was approxi- mately eighty miles south of the Río Bravo, or the Rio Grande, as it is known in the United States.4 He hoped to find ceramics that could be used to determine the approximate age of the sites, a goal that was never achieved.5 Despite the informality of his fieldwork, lack of knowledge about the archae- ology of Texas and Coahuila, and lack of experience in collecting and recording surface artifacts, Taylor produced three papers about his recent experiences after his return to New Mexico, one of which was published that same year (Taylor 1937).6 In all three papers he expressed a similar sentiment: that “the cave culture of Coa- huila, Mexico, may be considered much like, but not identical with, the cave culture of West Texas. The similarities indicate a unity which binds the areas together in one problem. The differences point to the fact that the material culture changes as it proceeds south and to the possibility that there were associations and influences acting upon Coahuila from directions other than the north” (emphasis added).7 This quotation incorporates three theoretical problems Taylor worked on throughout his life but never resolved: (1) how to conceptualize the similarities be- 374 Contributions of Walter W. Taylor to the Archaeology of Coahuila, 1937–1947 tween the cultures of Coahuila and West Texas without losing sight of their differ- ences, (2) how to identify a cultural continuum and at the same time differentiate phases or periods within this continuum, and (3) how Mesoamerican influences affected the cultures of Coahuila, given the proximity of the state’s southern border to the northernmost part of this region. One of Taylor’s major objectives was to “clarify the origin and position of the Texas cave material and its relations, if any, to cultures in Mexico. Such a continu- ous link between the American Southwest and the southern portions of the Mexi- can plateau would be of the utmost value, should it be demonstrated.”8 All evidence pointed to the existence of a route or corridor extending between the Mexican cen- tral high plateau, with its great pre-Hispanic cultures, and the southwestern United States—a route that crossed the great Chihuahua Desert, the prevalent environment of Coahuila. Following this expedition, Taylor enrolled in a doctoral program at Harvard (Euler 1997:23). At the end of 1938, he began to analyze the archaeological material collected by Edward Palmer in 1880, which was curated at Harvard’s Peabody Museum. Palmer had collected the material from the burial caves of the Comarca Lagunera, 300 kilometers southwest of Cuatro Ciénegas. This work fit Taylor perfectly. He revealed his enthusiasm in a letter to his friend Albert Schroeder: “I came here hoping but did not dare hope too much that they would do that very thing.”9 THE YEAR 1939 In June 1939 a determined Walter W. Taylor returned to Coahuila to continue his reconnaissance of the region and its archaeological features. He spent thirty-two days surveying the region west and northwest of Cuatro Ciénegas and southward to a point halfway along the road between San Pedro and Cuatro Ciénegas (Taylor 1988:4).10 During this time he discovered three of the four caves with deposits (CM- 24, Burro Gordo, or Fat Burro Cave; CM-28, El Nopal, or Nopal Shelter; and CM- 37). He interpreted these sites as “habitations” and excavated them in 1941 as part of the U.S. National Museum’s Coahuila Expedition. The nature and quantity of archaeological sites Taylor recorded and his analyses of the pictographs, flaked stone artifacts, and ceramics influenced his decision to excavate several of these caves the following year.11 He hoped to correlate the ceramics chronologically with the material from the caves to verify that the caves’ early inhabitants were of considerable antiquity and associated with other pre- Hispanic settlements. He proposed a post–A.D. 700 date for the initial occupation of these sites.12 After completing his reconnaissance work in Coahuila, Taylor went to Chaco Canyon where he met Frank D. Setzler, head curator of the Smithsonian Institution, who was in residence there (Taylor 1973:220 n. 120). He maintained correspon- dence with Setzler and later obtained academic endorsement from the Smithsonian 375 Leticia González Arratia Institution to obtain the necessary permissions from the government of Mexico to formally undertake archaeological work in Coahuila. He also began to search for financial support and received a donation of $2,500 at the beginning of 1940 from a wealthy friend (Taylor 1988:4). THE YEAR 1941 With his two principal problems—financial support and academic endorsement— resolved, in 1940 Taylor began making preparations for his next field trip. He decided to focus his doctoral thesis on the excavations in Coahuila. Taylor arrived at Cuatro Ciénegas on Christmas Day 1940, together with his wife, Lyda, and Albert Schroeder, who had been invited to collaborate as his assistant.13 Excavations commenced on January 4, 1941 (Taylor 1988:5). From January to May, Taylor excavated several sites he had recorded during previous trips. The month of June was devoted to surface surveys and the excavation of sites known to contain burials. Excavation of the Cave Habitations The first caves Taylor excavated were Burro Gordo and El Nopal.14 Later, he moved on to the famous cave La Espantosa. Because of its extensive features, large size, deep deposits, and relative density of artifacts, La Espantosa became Taylor’s prototype site and principal point of reference for interpreting the archaeology of central Coahuila and the pre-Hispanic societies that inhabited the area. Taylor’s experiences in 1939 had led him to believe he would encounter pri- marily artifacts of stone. Contrary to expectation, he recovered great quantities of wooden, fiber, and leaf artifacts from the caves. No ceramics were found. The most significant strata revealed the presence of two kinds of objects Taylor believed were of considerable antiquity: certain types of woven sandals and an incised rock frag- ment (Table 22.1). The objects that drew Taylor’s strongest attention were the sandals made of fibers and leaves. He noted to Setzler that “our definite sandal stratigraphy is still intact and really a beautiful example of mutually exclusive superposition . something to dream about!”15 His interest in the sandals and the potential they held for his studies continued until his death and was the focus of his only publication dedicated entirely to the material culture of Coahuila (Taylor 1988). Taylor did not limit his thinking to the chronological aspects of the sites or the material culture of the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the Coahuila caves and their significance. He also continued to elaborate on an idea that was manifested in 1937 and that appears to have excited him even more, given the emphasis he placed on it in a letter to a friend.
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