Are there other maps made out of stone?
Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:14 am
(I brought this up in another thread and thought it deserved a thread of its own.)
One of my biggest questions about the Peralta Stone Maps is why someone went to the trouble to make them to begin with? It truly baffles me.
I've tried searching for stone maps and can't seem to find any that would come even close to matching the time period in which the Peralta stones had to be made. Basically, once paper was invented, why bother creating a map out of stone? Especially considering the weight of it for someone to carry around to use it.
Has anyone found any references to any stone maps similar to these at all? I know I haven't. Yes, many stone crosses and such, but no actual maps.
Also, when you consider the Stone Maps themselves, each one has carvings on both sides. That seems odd to me too.
You could theorize that they were made that way so that they could be hidden in plain site, i.e., you could hide them in a church, or such structure, that was made with stones. Then, for those that needed them, could flip them over. The two problems with this theory is that Horse/Priest stone has info on both sides, not just a cross or such. Plus two, and more importantly, you could hide a piece of paper under a stone a hell of lot easier and with less risk of it being found.
I'm inclined to believe that the Stone Maps are not fake... but when I really start thinking about why they were made, I really can't come up with an answer that makes sense. Even if you wanted a very durable copy of a map, you still could have made it of much smaller stones and with the etchings not so deep.
Overall, it tends to lean me towards the direction that the Stone Maps were made for decorative purposes. Maybe someone showing off the maps they used to find their fortune had them carved in stone (kinda like bronzing your kid's baby shoes or such).
I was curious as to what others have to think about this?
One of my biggest questions about the Peralta Stone Maps is why someone went to the trouble to make them to begin with? It truly baffles me.
I've tried searching for stone maps and can't seem to find any that would come even close to matching the time period in which the Peralta stones had to be made. Basically, once paper was invented, why bother creating a map out of stone? Especially considering the weight of it for someone to carry around to use it.
Has anyone found any references to any stone maps similar to these at all? I know I haven't. Yes, many stone crosses and such, but no actual maps.
Also, when you consider the Stone Maps themselves, each one has carvings on both sides. That seems odd to me too.
You could theorize that they were made that way so that they could be hidden in plain site, i.e., you could hide them in a church, or such structure, that was made with stones. Then, for those that needed them, could flip them over. The two problems with this theory is that Horse/Priest stone has info on both sides, not just a cross or such. Plus two, and more importantly, you could hide a piece of paper under a stone a hell of lot easier and with less risk of it being found.
I'm inclined to believe that the Stone Maps are not fake... but when I really start thinking about why they were made, I really can't come up with an answer that makes sense. Even if you wanted a very durable copy of a map, you still could have made it of much smaller stones and with the etchings not so deep.
Overall, it tends to lean me towards the direction that the Stone Maps were made for decorative purposes. Maybe someone showing off the maps they used to find their fortune had them carved in stone (kinda like bronzing your kid's baby shoes or such).
I was curious as to what others have to think about this?