Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The macuahuitl was a standard close combat weapon. Use of the macuahuitl as a weapon is attested from the first millennium CE, although specimens can be found in art dating to at least pre-classic times. [3] By the time of the Spanish conquest the macuahuitl was widely distributed in Mesoamerica.
This is a list of historical pre-modern weapons grouped according to their uses, with rough classes set aside for very similar weapons. Some weapons may fit more than one category (e.g. the spear may be used either as a polearm or as a projectile), and the earliest gunpowder weapons which fit within the period are also included.
The earliest meaning attributed to macana is a sword-like weapon made out of wood, but still sharp enough to be dangerous. [2] The term is also sometimes applied to the similar Aztec weapon, which is studded with pieces of obsidian in order to create a blade, though some authorities distinguish this item by using the Nahuatl name macuahuitl.
Weapons were crafted mostly from obsidian and chert, obsidian being the sharpest (but more brittle). Knapping chert or obsidian into bifacial projectile points and attaching them to atlatl darts, spears, and arrows was the dominant technology. Although bows and arrows were used, spears and Macuahuitl remained much more common. [4]
The warriors used a number of weapons, including an atlatl, spears and daggers. The Aztec blades ( macuahuitl ) were made by setting obsidian within wood. Firestones were flung at enemies using slings made of wool.
Gold-silver-copper alloy figure of an Aztec warrior, who holds a dartthrower, darts, and a shield. Aztec warfare concerns the aspects associated with the military conventions, forces, weaponry and strategic expansions conducted by the Late Postclassic Aztec civilizations of Mesoamerica, including particularly the military history of the Aztec Triple Alliance involving the city-states of ...
Some of the more significant portrayals of obsidian use involve blood-letting and warfare. One example includes the macuahuitl, a broad–faced club studded along its edges by obsidian prismatic blades. These weapons are predominantly used in ritual warfare and generally date to the Postclassic period.
A fact from Macuahuitl appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 22 July 2018 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that there are accounts of a macuahuitl, a Mesoamerican weapon made from wood and stone, decapitating a horse? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions ...