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Despite being sharper, prismatic obsidian is also considerably more brittle than steel; obsidian blades of the type used on the macuahuitl tended to shatter on impact with other obsidian blades, steel swords or plate armour. Obsidian blades also have difficulty penetrating European mail. The thin, replaceable blades used on the macuahuitl were ...
The importance of sacrifice in Classic Maya culture can be seen in Structure O-13 at Piedras Negras where vessels of obsidian blades, stingray spines, and other bloodletting utensils lined the pathway along the structure. [3] These materials increased in count along the pathway, leading to a main room in which sacrifice rituals took place. [3]
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.
Morphologically, obsidian was worked into a variety of tool forms, including knives, lance and projectile points, prismatic blades, general bifacial tools, and utilized flakes. Blades have been found in situ with rabbit, rodent, and mollusk remains, indicating their use in butchery. The practical use of obsidian is obvious considering that the ...
Likewise, the blades and blade cores located in the Ambergris Caye Museum dated to Mayan inhabitation showed heavy reliance on obsidian. Because obsidian is not natural to Belize, the site of excavation, the obsidian cores were the product of transactions between the Mayans and those in present-day Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala.
The gunstock war club was mostly made from wood, but had a metal blade attached to the end of the club, like a spear point. The club was shaped like the stock of an 18th-century musket . [ 5 ] The design of these gunstock clubs was directly influenced by the firearms that the European settlers used. [ 6 ]
The major disadvantage of obsidian blades is their brittleness compared to those made of metal, [66] thus limiting the surgical applications for obsidian blades to a variety of specialized uses where this is not a concern. [62] Pig carved in snowflake obsidian, 10 centimeters (4 in) long. The markings are spherulites.
Prismatic blades are flaked from stone cores through pressure flaking or direct percussion. [2] This process results in a very standardized finished tool and waste assemblage. The most famous and most prevalent prismatic blade material is obsidian, as obsidian use was widespread in Mesoamerica, though chert, flint, and chalcedony blades are not ...