Macuahuitl

A Mesoamerican weapon made from a wooden board set with sharp obsidian blades along its edges. Mexica and other central Mexican peoples used it in combat.

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Obsidian: A naturally occurring volcanic glass that fractures into exceptionally sharp edges. Its sharpness made it the macuahuitl’s cutting material.
Obsidian blade: A cutting edge made by shaping volcanic glass through controlled fracture. Each blade supplied a keen edge along the club’s sides.
Aztec warfare: The military practices and conflicts of the Mexica-led Aztec Empire and its allies. The macuahuitl was among the weapons used in Aztec warfare.
Codex Mendoza: A sixteenth-century manuscript documenting Mexica tribute, history, and daily life. Its illustrations show Mexica weapons and military equipment.
Tepoztopilli: A Mesoamerican pole weapon with a wooden shaft and an obsidian-edged head. It used obsidian cutting edges on a pole rather than a hand-held club.
Macuahuitl construction: The design and assembly of the wooden body and obsidian blades of a macuahuitl. Blade placement and attachment shaped the weapon’s cutting edge.
Flintknapping: The shaping of stone by striking or pressing it to detach flakes. Stoneworking techniques could produce the blades fitted into the weapon.
Flower war: A ritualized conflict, especially associated with the Mexica and their neighboring rivals, used to capture sacrificial victims. Accounts associate the capture of living prisoners with Mexica combat practices.
Florentine Codex: A sixteenth-century Nahuatl-Spanish account of Mexica life compiled under Bernardino de Sahagún. Its descriptions and illustrations preserve evidence about Indigenous weapons.
Atlatl: A lever used to propel a dart with greater force than a hand-thrown spear. It delivered projectiles at a distance instead of striking at close range.