José Mariano Rotea (1732–1799) was a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

on the Baja California peninsula who played a key role in the rediscovery of the peninsula's prehistoric Great Murals rock art. Rotea was born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and served as missionary at San Ignacio in what is now the state of

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

, Mexico, from 1759 until the Jesuits were expelled from

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

in 1768. He lived in exile in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, Italy, until his death. Rotea wrote an account of his observations and speculations concerning the remains of the peninsula's prehistoric inhabitants. This was included in a manuscript by his fellow missionary

Miguel del Barco Miguel del Barco ( Casas de Millán, 1706– Bologna, 1790) was a Jesuit missionary in Baja California, Mexico and wrote major contributions to the peninsula's history and ethnography. Del Barco was born at Casas de Millán in Cáceres, Extremad ...

and published by the Jesuit historian

Francisco Javier Clavijero Francisco Javier Clavijero Echegaray (sometimes ''Francesco Saverio Clavigero'') (September 9, 1731 – April 2, 1787), was a Mexican Society of Jesus, Jesuit teacher, scholar and historian. After the expulsion of the Society of Jesus, Jesui ...

. One subject of Rotea's account was an hypothesized race of prehistoric giants, supposedly attested by oral traditions, outsized living areas, and paintings placed high on the walls or ceilings of rock shelters. In his investigations into this matter, Rotea carried out what were probably the earliest archaeological excavations on the peninsula, in order to recover bones from a supposed giant. Of more lasting influence was his first reporting of the existence large painted human and animal figures in the region's rock shelters, in a style later labelled the Great Murals.Laylander, Don. 2014. "The Beginnings of Prehistoric Archaeology in Baja California, 1732-1913". ''Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly'' 50(1&2):3–5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotea, Jose Mariano 1732 births 1799 deaths People from Mexico City Mexican Jesuits History of Baja California Roman Catholic missionaries in New Spain Archaeologists of the Baja California peninsula Jesuits expelled from the Americas