The gory scenes of massive and bloody human sacrifice depicted in Mel Gibson’s movie Apocalypto were probably nothing like what the Maya considered an appropriate form of bloodletting. While bloodletting was common throughout Meso-american cultures, it was mostly the Aztec people who were big on sacrificing humans. The idea behind this practice came from a belief that the sun might not rise in the morning unless some blood was offered to the gods.
In the Mayan society, it was important to perform a daily offering of blood but it was preferably the blood of a high ranking person rather than a commoner or even a prisoner from an enemy. The tradition of sacrificing blood is still practiced today in parts of modern Mexico where a farmer might cut an earlobe to offer a few drops of blood when planting a new crop in one of his fields. Traditions die hard.
Because the offering of blood was performed so frequently, the Maya learned ways to avoid lasting damage to their bodies by choosing to cut only places with good blood supply and the ability to heal rapidly. You may be surprised to learn what body parts they chose for this purpose. One part in particular had powerful symbolic meaning for the Maya, especially for the nobility who were the ones who most often practiced this symbolic and important ritual.
In order to solve this puzzle, you will need to do some research (see related web page) and determine the name of the “particular body part” referenced above. Take the name of that part, convert the five letters to an encrypted Rot 13 word and then convert those letters to the alpha numeric components; in other words, A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. If a letter converts to a two digit number, add the digits to make a single digit equivalent and this will give you a series of five digits that will equal ABCDE.
The final is located at: N47 AD.(C+E)DC W122 (A+C-D)D.DA(D+E-C)
There are two unactivated Team Scar geocoins for the FTF and STF.
Plenty of parking nearby.
Research for this project was greatly facilitated by information found in the book “2012 Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya” by Mark Van Stone, Ph.d., G.F. Click here to learn more on his website,
You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.
Remember to write down the Maya number symbols found in the log book, or on the lid, that is needed to determine the coordinates of the final cache of this series. The numbers are displayed as symbols that form the vigesimal numbers used by the Maya. After conversion, ten are labeled N and are each a four-digit number. Ten are labeled W and are each a three-digit number. The final cache of this series, A New Era, provides the final numbers and instructions how to add to the prior twenty to determine its coordinates.