SOMETHING HERE? OR OVERACTIVE IMAGINATION?

newbieprospector · Jul 17, 2007

After an afternoon of cleaning up a beach (of course this particular beach was occupied by the Spanish around the 1500's) with my metaldetector, my take during the afternoon was a huge bag of garbage and 36 cents

! However, on my way home I decided that I would check out some cave drawings that I had heard about, not expecting to see any thing other than a nice historical spot. When I arrived there happened to be a class there from a local college so I got to hear a little more about the drawings than expected. For one thing, the professor there said that due to the materials used to create the drawings, they could not be dated. He also mentioned that many of the drawings were just random and had nothing to do with the story that evolved regarding the drawings. While looking at the drawings though, it appeared to me as you can see in the picture labled "fav view with lines", that it looks like the cove where I had just been metal detecting! The red line would be the cove where the Spanish resupplied their galleons (hence the drawing that looks like a Spanish shield in the center). And the blue line is a river flowing from the mountains down to the cove (next to this is a squiggly line with two dots). So... I am hoping to get the opinion of others on this and any other insight any of you might be able to provide. Thanks!

Old Dog · Jul 17, 2007

I would have loved to hear the story the "professor" had to tell about the "indian signs" LOL

I would also like to see more of the actual Left side of the picture you show. from a straight on view if you have it.

Good stuff.

OD

newbieprospector · Jul 17, 2007

Here's a pic of the left side...what do you think?

Old Dog · Jul 17, 2007

I think it is a virtual treasure trove of spanish signs and symbols.
Especially for someone like me who collects them.

A little sorting is in order but I think there are a couple that I havn't seen before.

What did the "professor" call them?

OD

newbieprospector · Jul 17, 2007

Well, like I said before, the thing that got me was when he mentioned that with the materials used, they could not be dated without destroying them. Which tells me they have no idea on when exactly these were created...and a lot of them looked like some of the Spanish symbols I've seen posted on TN and in books, but he didn't seem the type to respond to well if I were to mention that and also he had a class with him

Anyway, the story goes that a Chief of one of the villages heard that there was another Village Chief claiming to be the strongest on the island. So this Chief went to visit the other Chief and thought he would impress him so he grabbed a nearby coconut tree and shook all the coconuts out of the tree. The villagers and other Chief were not impressed; the other Chief picked up one of the coconuts and squeezed all the fruit and milk out of the coconut. Seeing this the Chief decided it was time to go home and jumped in his canoe, the other Chief decided to help him so jumped in the canoe also. One Chief wanted to go north around the island and the other south...both of them started paddling and split the canoe in half and headed in opposite directions.
Of course I abbreviated this story quite a bit for space and attention spans

So...is there any info you'd care to share with me in what symbols you see here?

Old Dog · Jul 18, 2007

The second picture shows a definite difference in the type of paint application and the difference in paint. There are two different authors (at least) Up close it is easy to see.
The bolder of the two is mostly newer and I think Spanish. (I think) MHO

OD

Maybe some even newer signs
you are in Guam.
like you say they could be Japanese

Tricia · Jul 18, 2007

Not quite the same but when exploring an abandoned fort up in Canada I came across a tunnel which was the main entrance from the water. You could tell where the big doors were hung because some of the metal work was still in place.

In the tunnel was lots of grafiti. But what I found interesting was not the spray paint from the modern gangs but some carved grafiti from the 1960's-1860's. I'm pretty sure the oldest grafiti is genuine because of the writing style and manner in which it is carved. Not to mention the location.

Was told by a local historian that soldiers who protected the fort while it was active were often bored and in peace time not very vigilant. So they were the ones who probably carved their names into the bricks lining the tunnel.

When I went back I found more and indeed a couple of the young soldiers had been so brazen as to actually sign their full names with rank. Looked the names up, you guessed it they were listed as part of the regiment.

If you found these markings in a cave on Guam...perhaps the occupying soldiers did the same as those who were on patrol at the Canadian fort, long ago.

Just food for thought.