(With 3350+ posts in this topic, most of which I've read at one time or another, please forgive me if this idea has come up before)
Let's suppose (just for fun) that the Peralta maps are authentic, and that they actually led to a treasure (note the past tense.) A thought occurred to me that most people are working backwards at solving the maps, trying to find out where they lead to (or rather, as you'll see, where they led
from.)
My idea is that the stones were initially placed in the mountains by our erstwhile cache hiders, the heart stone being at the "beginning" (probably near some distinctive landmark.) To recover the treasure, you'd decipher the clues to find the next stone (and so on and so on) until you reach 'X marks the spot'. (In this scenario, to make sure you aren't making any mistakes in interpreting them, you'd haul the stones along with you as you go.)
Finally, you reach 'X', dig up the treasure, and take off. You don't need the stones anymore, so you dump'em (where they are found many years later, and we've all seen the trouble that has ensued since.)
Now, all this assumes that our cache hiders mined in the mountains and stockpiled their finds (probably over several years) and weren't able to make it back themselves (in which case they wouldn't have needed any maps, knowing where they buried it), and so left directions to the people they sent later on where to "start". Or (wickedly possible), they came back and removed the treasure (no need to do anything with the map stones placed in the mountains), and much later somebody else followed the stones' directions (to an empty cache. Can only imagine the looks on their faces when they discovered
that.)
Plausible? No need to follow the maps, they were already at the treasure site!
(Just musing....
)
