Is it a Vault?

[sdcfia]

... This is near a Spanish gold mine site. There is an arrastra. In the runoff of the spring, we found broken pewter spoons and wrought iron straps. I would date the site it to the 1700s.

Do you have photos of the mine site, arrastra and artifacts? You call it a "Spanish gold mine". What led you to that conclusion? Is this site in a mineralized zone with any history?

 

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[cyzak]

Thank you for taking a look at my pics and offering your opinion.
I'm sorry to hear about your Aggie. She must have been quite the treasure hunting partner!
Well we have two separate opinions on what is going on with his hips, but both vets say it's not hip dysplasia and his hips look good on x-rays, so I guess that is one good thing. I hope we get it figured o

Thanks for taking a look at my pics, Cyzak. What is it about the formation that makes you think it may be a trail marker? I am still learning about the vaults. When someone says "vault" are they describing a hiding place for the king's fifth that is death trapped? What are the features of a vault?

It got your attention, that is what they were designed to do. You are dealing with engineers especially when it comes to wealth these guys were no fools. A vault will not be easy to locate and there will be really no markings around it unless a sentinel has done some redesign. They were made this way to make sure the valuables were secure for future recovery. Be very very careful of the photos you post here they are being scrutinized by everyone. If you are close to a mining area then it is a very good possibility that there was a vault near it but not close it was engineered this way. Nothing was ever together they were not that stupid. Be safe out there take care of that pup.

 

[miboje]

Do you have photos of the mine site, arrastra and artifacts? You call it a "Spanish gold mine". What led you to that conclusion? Is this site in a mineralized zone with any history?

The signs seem to be Spanish. I will repost a pic I shared before. There is a lot of carving on that diamond rock. Of significance is an eagle, which you can barely see an outline of even without getting close up to the rock.

 

[miboje]

It got your attention, that is what they were designed to do. You are dealing with engineers especially when it comes to wealth these guys were no fools. A vault will not be easy to locate and there will be really no markings around it unless a sentinel has done some redesign. They were made this way to make sure the valuables were secure for future recovery. Be very very careful of the photos you post here they are being scrutinized by everyone. If you are close to a mining area then it is a very good possibility that there was a vault near it but not close it was engineered this way. Nothing was ever together they were not that stupid. Be safe out there take care of that pup.

I was just thinking this morning that it is possible that a sentinel has done some redesign. There are two carved pine trees nearby that are not old enough to have been carved by whoever did the mining, I don't think. The carvings have grown over, but if they are what I think they are then they may be markers for a king's vault. Here they are:

 

[cyzak]

I'm not big on tree carvings at all, there mostly to throw you off you do have an owl and a heart .Believe me any thing of value would have been permanent so as not to be removed and the bigger the value the more permanent. Go back to the diamond and start over I do see a road that is not good sometimes. A trail is one thing a road means a lot of travel has happened in the area. But if the persons had no clue what to look for there still might be a chance. It is still worth hunting to the end good practice and some reverse engineering I love to reverse engineer it is super valuable in this field in my opinion even if I come up empty.

 

[miboje]

I'm not big on tree carvings at all, there mostly to throw you off you do have an owl and a heart .Believe me any thing of value would have been permanent so as not to be removed and the bigger the value the more permanent. Go back to the diamond and start over I do see a road that is not good sometimes. A trail is one thing a road means a lot of travel has happened in the area. But if the persons had no clue what to look for there still might be a chance. It is still worth hunting to the end good practice and some reverse engineering I love to reverse engineer it is super valuable in this field in my opinion even if I come up empty.

I thought owl and heart as well. There is a road, and you need a 4WD to get back there. Sometimes the spring overflows and washes it out. I am sure that has been going on for at least 200 years. Eventually the road will be impassable.
So after the diamond and other significant rocks (one of those rocks had a gold bead embedded in it), the next rock is a dog sitting there watching you as you go by. Then there is nothing (that I know of yet) for about a quarter mile. Then you come upon this site that is a textbook example of what is described in De Re Metallica as the perfect site to look for gold....spring, cleft trees with orange and yellow with black holes in the leaves, etc., sparse trees and vegetation, etc. Then at what I suspect was the actual mine site there was an effort to conceal the area - with lots of non-native trees - and outcropping of rocks from being seen from the road. My dowsing rods told me to go over there, and I found this. He's got a flat head just like the turtle head poking out near the diamond rock:

This is a boulder, about the size of a VW Bug. Since his head is extended and his eye is open I presume he is saying to keep going. This will lead you up and to the top of the outcropping.

I will not be trying to set off or find a way into that death trap. It must be pretty sturdy because it did survive a small earthquake. I have reason to suspect there are explosives in that mix somewhere based on something that's carved onto the diamond rock, and I suspect it is being watched because someone keeps small branches cut back along the outcrop, which may be for hunting purposes as well. Anyhow I'm sure the trap is deadly, and I don't need to get myself killed. But this is an excellent opportunity to reverse engineer and learn, and it's fun.
Others can learn from it as well. And there may be small side caches that are not trapped.

 

[Crosse De Sign]

I thought owl and heart as well. There is a road, and you need a 4WD to get back there. Sometimes the spring overflows and washes it out. I am sure that has been going on for at least 200 years. Eventually the road will be impassable.
So after the diamond and other significant rocks (one of those rocks had a gold bead embedded in it), the next rock is a dog sitting there watching you as you go by. Then there is nothing (that I know of yet) for about a quarter mile. Then you come upon this site that is a textbook example of what is described in De Re Metallica as the perfect site to look for gold....spring, cleft trees with orange and yellow with black holes in the leaves, etc., sparse trees and vegetation, etc. Then at what I suspect was the actual mine site there was an effort to conceal the area - with lots of non-native trees - and outcropping of rocks from being seen from the road. My dowsing rods told me to go over there, and I found this. He's got a flat head just like the turtle head poking out near the diamond rock: View attachment 2057442
This is a boulder, about the size of a VW Bug. Since his head is extended and his eye is open I presume he is saying to keep going. This will lead you up and to the top of the outcropping.

I will not be trying to set off or find a way into that death trap. It must be pretty sturdy because it did survive a small earthquake. I have reason to suspect there are explosives in that mix somewhere based on something that's carved onto the diamond rock, and I suspect it is being watched because someone keeps small branches cut back along the outcrop, which may be for hunting purposes as well. Anyhow I'm sure the trap is deadly, and I don't need to get myself killed. But this is an excellent opportunity to reverse engineer and learn, and it's fun.
Others can learn from it as well. And there may be small side caches that are not trapped.

Be good if you could set up a Pentax camera in different places around the mine & area.
You notice one of the long thin smaller rocks in the rock pile trigger area you did the
close-up pics on, resembles your turtle head with an eye.

 

[Crosse De Sign]

Can you describe Civil War activity? Do you mean were there any skirmishes nearby? Or just encampments?

Well, 200 mi. is not that far from known serious activity. So just for example, it could have been set-up by some group that recognized Spanish activity or not, or just liked the remote location, & hid something they wanted to retain possession of. Have you thoroughly deep searched the areas where the metal objects were located?

 

[Quinoa]

I haven't looked at everything here, but I know a lot of the old mines with old claims as well as some the other types I've seen have a blazed or odd looking tree very close to them. Your original pictures may show something like a blocked entrance, but in the US a lot of that stuff is going to be a trapped decoy entrance or an already looted one. Pretty much the same thing. I would be very careful proceeding on that stuff..

 

[Carvinologist]

Not sure. This is at the end of a major rock and boulder outcrop across the top of a mountain. There are some charred logs in and around this particular area. The first pic is at a distance, then the second is a bit more zoomed in, then the third is zoomed all the way in. I'm looking for the experienced and educated to chime in here. It may be something, it may be nothing. I can't get back in there until hunting season is over.
View attachment 2057004
View attachment 2057005
View attachment 2057006
Thanks for looking!

On the last picture, the black log with branch symbol,at the top of the picture, represents gold...Below the black log symbol is a black triangle and to the right of it is a black exclamation point like symbol, which means danger...

Between these 2 black symbols is the right ear of a rabbit...the head of the rabbit, is right of the exclamation point...the rabbits eye is a diamond with a dot in the center, which is looking at the tip of the rabbits right ear..

Behind the rabbits head is a whale with a smaller fish in its mouth...The eye of the whale is a circle with a dot in the center, which also represents gold...The smaller fish also has the same eye as the whale, but smaller...larger eye over smaller...

Be careful and good luck...