A Shell Midden in the Upper Gulf of California: Challenging the Paradigms of Isolation and Marginalization?

The archaeological site known as “El Faro” is located in the upper Gulf of California region of the Baja California peninsula. Archaeological work within this area of Baja California has been limited, and the investigation presented in this article is the most extensive to date in the region. This research, combining surface reconnaissance with three eld seasons of excavation, has yielded data that allow for the reconstruction of the subsistence patterns of the site’s inhabitants through time. Additionally, we have been able to establish that the late occupation inhabitants of the El Faro site had a system of exchange with neighboring Yuman regions. The subsistence and trade evidence together allows us to comment on the proposed isolation and marginalization of the prehistoric groups in Baja California