The central part of Baja California peninsula is a region of Mexico that houses one of the most spectacular collections of rock art in the country - the Great Murals of the Sierra de San Francisco. The region is geographically insular and it would have kept the native peoples relatively isolated from continental influences, allowing the development of a local cultural complex. Seven rock art sites were visited and recorded on the expedition: Cueva la Palma, Cueva de las Flechas, Cueva Pintada, Piedra de Chuy [a petroglyph site], Cueva Soledad, Cueva Ratón and Cueva El Palmarito. The only access into the arroyo San Pablo is by mule, involving a descent of some 1,500 ft. on the traditional Indian trails. Camps were set up each night on the canyon floor.

Within the Sierra de San Francisco there are hundreds of documented rock shelters, many with huge panels with numerous brightly painted figures, for the most part found in a good state of conservation. The style is essentially realistic, dominated by depictions of human figures and terrestrial and marine fauna, designed in red, black, white and yellow. The paintings are found on both the walls and roofs of rock shelters, sometimes at considerable heights. The rock shelters are often difficult to access. The landscape of the area is another significant attribute; the rock art is clearly ‘embedded’ within the landscape. The paintings are either monochrome or polychrome. The most common figures are humans and deer, but a variety of other animals, such as rabbits, bighorn sheep, birds, fish, and snakes are also represented. The human images often include stylized headdresses. A minority of human images are shown with sexual characteristics, such as male genitalia or female breasts. A minority of human and animal images are overlain with depictions of projectiles (presumably arrows or atlatl darts). The sheer scale of the painted depictions found in this region of Baja California are noteworthy.

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