PATTERNS OF FIGURE PLACEMENT IN GREAT MURAL ART NEAR MISSION SANTA GERTRUDIS, BAJA CALIFORNIA.

Paintings of the Great Mural Style in Baja California follow strict conventions in the depictions of humans and animals. These conventions have been described in Crosby's book Cave Paintings of Baja California. The figures are often placed in groups or overlapped. This paper describes patterns in figure placement at sites in Baja California in the vicinity of Mission Santa Gertrudis. Patterns include: pairs of large human figures (called monos in this rock art style) with arms crossing; rows of monos placed side by side with arms crossing; groups of smaller figures at the feet of the larger ones or grouped together by themselves; V-shaped groups of large monos. These patterns demonstrate that conventions governed figure placement as well as figure content in this region. It is hoped that study of the placement of figures can give insight into the meaning of the paintings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]