This site is a pre-historic Indian village, occupied from AD 900 to 1200. Aztalan (pronounced as-ta-lan) is the northernmost settlement of the Middle Mississippian Tradition Indians, but many aspects of the culture of the Woodland Indians were incorporated, probably from their neighbors.
There are many theories as to why this was a stockaded village, and why this settlement came to such an abrupt end, apparently by fire. One strong theory is that the Aztalan Indians were cannibals (hence the name of this cache), and were driven out or destroyed by neighboring tribes.
This is a multi-stage cache, the posted co-ordinates lead you to the first stage. For each stage, there is a question, the answer to which will allow you to decode the next stage of the hunt. By answering each question, you will progress through the major points of this park, hopefully learning about the Aztalan Indians in the process. Just North of the park on Cty Q is a museum, some marker mounds, and in back of the museum the princess mound where an Indian princess was buried.
Each stage of the cache is encrypted in a manner similar to the normal geocaching encryption, but with a
twist. The decoding tables don't all start with the same letter! The answer to each question will tell you what letter of the alphabet to start with. Make sure you bring a pen or pencil!
For example, lets say the question is In 1836, this person discovered Aztalan, how many letters are in his first name? From a sign at the posted co-ordinates you learn that Aztalan was discovered by Timothy Johnson, and as there are 7 letters in his first name, you know the table starts with the letter G, since G is the seventh letter of the alphabet.
So, on the first line write down the alphabet starting with G. On the second line write down the alphabet starting with A. GHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEF
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Then use this table to decode the next stage's co-ordinates! For example, ZKYZOTM would decode as TESTING.
All stages have the same degrees; 43° North and 88° West, so only the decimal minutes will be provided in the codes.
Continue on until you find the cache!
1) On the metal plaque, how many letters are in the last name of the person who wrote about Aztalan in 1837?Table:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
North:
W K U H H S R L Q W H L J K W V H Y H Q V L A
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
West:
I L I W B R Q H S R L Q W V L A R Q H W Z R
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|
2) How many letters in the first type of wood mentioned on the leftmost sign?
Table:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
North:
M V B Y W V P U A G L Y V Z P E A O Y L L
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
West:
M P M A F V U L W V P U A Z P E M V B Y M V B Y
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|
3) How many wooden steps on the East side?
Table:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
G I F T V V U V R J K R C F E X K Y V
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
J K F T B R U V K F K Y V K I R Z C Y V R U.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
K Y V T R T Y V Z J R K:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _:
North:
W F L I G F Z E K F E V J Z O J Z O
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
West:
W Z W K P F E V G F Z E K W Z M V F E V K Y I V V
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
|
|
The original cache's contents tie into the theme of the cache.
Please don't plunder the cache to feed your entire neighborhood!
- McDonalds gift certificates
- Burger King gift certificates
- Culvers gift certificates
There are a few other trinkets too!
You can trade anything at this cache, its not limited to gift certificates.Use the hint below if you have trouble finding the cache at the final stage: