Mystery Site

Mystery Site is an unofficial name for an unmarked location in Red Dead Redemption near Repentance Rock. It refers to small objects, possibly a Native American shrine or burial site, on the ground.

Description

There is a deer pelt on the ground with cryptic markings on it surrounded by three rune stones with various symbols carved into them placed at north, west, and east. There is also a 'plate' at the southern point of the configuration with carvings on it: (from left to right) a sun, a large man, a devil like man, a spear or tree, and what is thought to be a buffalo.

The player cannot interact with the objects in any way.

Location

Off the main road is a smaller trail that makes a loop just south of Repentance Rock. In the approximate center of the loop in between two bushes is where this site can be found.

Native American Symbolism

Traditionally, the bear-print means "good omen" in Native American lore, suggesting the map (if it indeed is a map) leads to treasure. On the other hand, the bear-print may simply mean that the Native Americans finally found "goodness" (peace).

The medicine wheel is a universal symbol of healing, again, suggesting that the plains and forests of the northeast had saved them. In another words, it symbolism The sacred circle filled with a cross, four equal lines pointing from the center to the spirits of the north, east, south, and west - or to the basic elements fire, water, wind, and earth.

Triangles in Native American symbolism usually referred to the Tipi, or temporary homes. The sun-down marking over the triangle could indicate that the Native Americans' "old ways" on the frontier are over, and they must move on to the reservations to survive. Or maybe an eye on the top of a Pyramid. Though Pyramid is not seen in Red Dead Redemption, the triangle would mean the top of the mountain.

The sun with a seven rays, in Native American symbolism the seven energy centers within human beings, and also the development of each of these energy centers. This symbol identifies the healing arts, and represents a peace-loving person. It also signifies the transitional power behind an entity who is evolved enough to radiate internal light outward in the environment. 

Theories

Theory 1

A theory proposed by a reddead.net user seems to try to take a shot at the Guardian Plates meaning.

"It looks like the Sun is the Sun of Happiness symbol. It is being blocked by the big man so he is hiding or blocking something from the light. Could that big man represent a White Man? It is all white and not colored in like the smaller one. The darkman could represent Indian people in what looks like a warrior head dress or hunting head dress. The last symbol looks close to the Symbol of a Buffalo. So the White Man blocked happiness or took happiness away. So the Dark Man hides (because he is hidden from light) near the Trees by the last Buffalo. Could it mean the Indian camp in Tall Trees?".

This also seems to match perfectly where Seth finally found his treasure at the end of the game.

Similar rock art

Theory 2

Another theory is based on dissecting the map as parts of a treasure map/pictogram. Of course, this was only done based on the theory the map is describing Tall Trees. The sun on the left (possibly setting) indicates the west, the tall man indicates a big white man. Normally a status symbol of immense wealth, the buffalo like symbol indicates it is in a location that buffalo pass and the tree symbol is actual location the tree is taller than the buffalo hinting at Tall Trees.

Theory 3

ProvokedElf has given another such theory: "I have seen the medicine wheel on the skin, and the apparent triangle and visited Mescalero, the stone circle in the center isn't identical but the tipis around it can possibly be the triangles on the skin.

Also it has been suggested the White Man blocked happiness or took happiness away. So the Dark Man hides (because he is hidden from light) near the Trees by the last Buffalo, so maybe the white man drove the Indians away from Mescalero with guns and the indians moved to the reserve at tall trees to hide from the white man (hidden from light = hiding).

"I do not see how it can relate to anything, apart from being a Easter egg but maybe the stone circle is important, ritual or treasure maybe. The four spots on the stone could be four positions of standing on the Mescalero circle and in the center could be a sacrifice spot or a summoning place. Maybe the devil looking creature is the creature that could be summoned at the Mescalero circle (it bears resemblence to the Aztec/ Indian god Quetzcuotl, god of war). Its far fetched, but maybe the Indians were trying to summon Quetzcuotl to fight the white man, or it might resemble war itself with the white man."

There's an another theory, the large creature with horns might be a clue to Ojo del Diablo as there is a large carving on the wall that looks almost the same as the picture. Maybe each symbol on the skin is a place, and one of those places has treasure.

Theory 4

The wheel in the picture could mean modernization, the white figure represents Dutch van der Linde, the Other man is a hiding Indian,the spear like object means tall trees or, Cochinay and the final picture is a buffalo. Probably meaning: modernization made the Indians leave, and the buffalo die, forcing the Indians move to Cochinay. Van der Linde brings hope by blocking the wheel.

Theory 5

The deer pelt could be a map to a Native American hunting ground. The 90 degrees sign under the sun could symbolize noon. And the arrow is a sign for hunting and the bear claw being Bear Claw Camp. At noon there are a lot of animals there at one time.

An arrow pointing North-East towards the bear pawprint suggests something in the direction of Tall Trees. For this reason some players have been working on looking at the Bearclaw Camp (where there are reports of Indian Ghosts). Another marking is a sun with an arrow pointing down towards a triangle like object.

It's possible that the Sun and the triangle symbols represent noon, since the triangle symbol clearly represents the mathematical symbol for angle, and the dot found in the angle indicates that the angle of it is 90 degrees (right angle), which if connected with the Sun, would represent noon, since at noon Sun is halfway through the sky (as seen from Earth) making it be at 90 degrees, this could mean that if connected with other symbols, and their meaning, that somewhere, something happens at the noon. Another explanation is that if the map is leading towards Tall Trees the triangle could be a mountain. The triangle could also represent an eye from a side-on perspective, as in "looking."

The final symbol is a medicine wheel with four dots (one in each quadrant). What this suggests, no one is certain.

It has also brought attention to the long abandoned Indian settlement, Mescalero, just next to Warthington Ranch on Hennigan's Stead. For the most part it appears to be vacant, but the arrow with the claw seems to point towards it as well. There have been some odd rock formations but it is still unknown where it leads.

Theory 6

The indian man is may be a ghost, as the spear (or tree) refers to a Tall Trees, while the animal refers to the animal that live in Tall Trees. The Bear Claw refer to a Bear Claw Camps, and the sun, means the seven energy, or the secret healing technique in Native American. There's a strange sound at the Bear Claw Camps (Only occurs when the volume is High enough), and a lot of animal sometimes walk between the the camps, and most of animal is smaller than the trees. It seems that the site is painted at 17th century, long before John Marston is born. Does that's mean a white-skinned man killed the indian man? Or does the indian man is killed by the bear? It is still unknown.

Gallery

The Guardian Plate shown below in a sketch and actual picture:

Picture of the actual Guardian Plate.

Rough drawing of the Guardian Plate.

Whole site.

The site is in the center of this looped road just south of Repentance Rock.

More detailed drawing of the Guardian Plate and all 3 stelae. it is very hard to see the actual drawings on the stelaes

Add a photo to this gallery

Video

Trivia

• Most of the symbol represent a Paganism, or Shamanistic cultures symbols.
• The meaning of the animal with a horn is unknown, as Native Americans doesn't have that types of animal.
• It is unknown, wether the site refer to a secret treasure, or a ghostly sound which can be heard at night in Tall Trees.

Further Information

A video was taken and posted on YouTube of the mystery site. To try to gather more information on the site the video was posted on the forums of reddead.net. The users on reddead.net have been on a hunt for more information regarding the site. The original forum can be found here: Original Thread. The thread includes both the videos and gives all the details into the investigation.

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