I have done some more thinking. My whole theory is based on trying to duplicate the thinking processes of a group of people who were brilliant military strategists. Since we cannot know what they were thinking, we can only try to duplicate their thinking. While I am not Sherlock Holmes, I do have a lot more thinking time than Sherlock's almost instantaneous decisions. And, my thoughts over 30 years clearly involved a lot more time than the Aztecs had to think about it. Except I am doing a sort of reverse engineering. Trying to figure out what they must have done based on the culture at the time and the way they did things.
My latest thoughts were, how was the treasure, which Bernal Dias said included lots of jewels in addition to the gold, packaged for storage? If we did dig down there, not likely to happen in my lifetime, what would we find? Not plastic nor tar paper packaging, of course. And, if it were wood, it will be long gone. There are wood eating bugs here, and they are not termites.
So, what would it be? I am convinced they knew what they were doing, and the loot was going to be well protected in some unknown manner.
I added an unexplained issue involving the finding of the skeleton and gold around 1910, in the room where I think it is buried.
I don't even know if I remembered to include it. But, my wife's grandfather told her that when they dug out the skeleton there were steps leading down into the ground.
That made no sense at the time, which is why I didn't think much about it at the time. Why would there be steps going into the ground? Makes no sense at first.
Today, while thinking about these issues, it became apparent what might have happened.
In the house in Tenochtitlan that they were put in by Moctezuma II, there was the sealed room with the 700,000 pesos of gold and jewelry. That means stone. And, by poor memory, I think most of the houses in Tenochtitlan were made of stone, including the roofs. If that is not true, my theories would change rapidly. Feel free to let me know on this if you have data to the contrary. I need to go back and read the books again.
In any case, the sealed jewel room had a top on it, or they would have simply climbed in to it. Instead they chopped their way in, somehow. Then fixed it up later. Per Bernal Dias.
I don't know exactly how the Aztecs bonded stones to make a house and roofs. I know they did have a mortar based on quicklime, rather than cement. Cement takes a very hot fire to bake. Quicklime is much lower temperature like 500 degrees vs. 1500. (I looked it up before but forget now and it is late tonight.) There is an old oven for quicklime in a field a few miles from my house, and it uses natural ventilation with openings at the bottom. This is sufficient for quick lime. In fact, you can make small quantities by tossing a travertine marble rock in a regular fire.
I don't think they would make steps down for a pile of loot laid at the bottom and covered with dirt. They would just hand it down.
No, it would be consistent that they built a small sealed room down there, like in the house Cortes and crew stayed in. This was consistent with their current technology and building practices, and desire to protect what they viewed as a priceless treasure. And, the stairs were how to get down there to that sealed room.
Then, the sealed room would be covered with dirt.
This makes more sense than taking a week to bury 15 tons of loot in the ground. Strong workers would not need that much time just to dig a hole. 15 tons of gold simply is not that big. I think I figured out earlier that 15 tons would fit in a pickup bed, though it would destroy the pickup bed.
However, some have even suggested that the gold may not have been in bars, but in decorative form, like mythological creatures or jewelry. That would be an additional reason to spend some time protecting it.
But, to gather suitable stones in a quarry town, and dig out the space, then build up a sealed room that would take a week, even for a large crew of experienced masons.
Of course, that week data is by oral tradition, and might have taken longer. However, the local conquered Indian tribe may well have had plenty of quicklime, because they used it in their own fort. I have seen it.
In any case, my latest theory is such a valuable treasure would have been protected by a full fledged sealed room down there.
Voila! A GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) would show that sucker like a K-mart flashing blue light! (Unless that concrete floor blocks GPR.
I told my wife the latest theory and why I think so. She is really laughing at it. How things have changed in the last 30 years! At that time, I didn't believe her when she said Moctezuma came here at times. Now, I am convinced the treasure is here, and she thinks I have lost it.
Remember, all this theory is based on some written information, plus the fact that local tradition says it is here. Everything else was based on following the predictable thought processes of military geniuses.
My latest thoughts were, how was the treasure, which Bernal Dias said included lots of jewels in addition to the gold, packaged for storage? If we did dig down there, not likely to happen in my lifetime, what would we find? Not plastic nor tar paper packaging, of course. And, if it were wood, it will be long gone. There are wood eating bugs here, and they are not termites.
So, what would it be? I am convinced they knew what they were doing, and the loot was going to be well protected in some unknown manner.
I added an unexplained issue involving the finding of the skeleton and gold around 1910, in the room where I think it is buried.
I don't even know if I remembered to include it. But, my wife's grandfather told her that when they dug out the skeleton there were steps leading down into the ground.
That made no sense at the time, which is why I didn't think much about it at the time. Why would there be steps going into the ground? Makes no sense at first.
Today, while thinking about these issues, it became apparent what might have happened.
In the house in Tenochtitlan that they were put in by Moctezuma II, there was the sealed room with the 700,000 pesos of gold and jewelry. That means stone. And, by poor memory, I think most of the houses in Tenochtitlan were made of stone, including the roofs. If that is not true, my theories would change rapidly. Feel free to let me know on this if you have data to the contrary. I need to go back and read the books again.
In any case, the sealed jewel room had a top on it, or they would have simply climbed in to it. Instead they chopped their way in, somehow. Then fixed it up later. Per Bernal Dias.
I don't know exactly how the Aztecs bonded stones to make a house and roofs. I know they did have a mortar based on quicklime, rather than cement. Cement takes a very hot fire to bake. Quicklime is much lower temperature like 500 degrees vs. 1500. (I looked it up before but forget now and it is late tonight.) There is an old oven for quicklime in a field a few miles from my house, and it uses natural ventilation with openings at the bottom. This is sufficient for quick lime. In fact, you can make small quantities by tossing a travertine marble rock in a regular fire.
I don't think they would make steps down for a pile of loot laid at the bottom and covered with dirt. They would just hand it down.
No, it would be consistent that they built a small sealed room down there, like in the house Cortes and crew stayed in. This was consistent with their current technology and building practices, and desire to protect what they viewed as a priceless treasure. And, the stairs were how to get down there to that sealed room.
Then, the sealed room would be covered with dirt.
This makes more sense than taking a week to bury 15 tons of loot in the ground. Strong workers would not need that much time just to dig a hole. 15 tons of gold simply is not that big. I think I figured out earlier that 15 tons would fit in a pickup bed, though it would destroy the pickup bed.
However, some have even suggested that the gold may not have been in bars, but in decorative form, like mythological creatures or jewelry. That would be an additional reason to spend some time protecting it.
But, to gather suitable stones in a quarry town, and dig out the space, then build up a sealed room that would take a week, even for a large crew of experienced masons.
Of course, that week data is by oral tradition, and might have taken longer. However, the local conquered Indian tribe may well have had plenty of quicklime, because they used it in their own fort. I have seen it.
In any case, my latest theory is such a valuable treasure would have been protected by a full fledged sealed room down there.
Voila! A GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) would show that sucker like a K-mart flashing blue light! (Unless that concrete floor blocks GPR.
I told my wife the latest theory and why I think so. She is really laughing at it. How things have changed in the last 30 years! At that time, I didn't believe her when she said Moctezuma came here at times. Now, I am convinced the treasure is here, and she thinks I have lost it.
Remember, all this theory is based on some written information, plus the fact that local tradition says it is here. Everything else was based on following the predictable thought processes of military geniuses.
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