Macahuitl. Wooden clubs with obsidian points, were very sharp, but easily worn or broken.
Summary
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- 1 History
- 2 Concept
- 3 How to use
- 4 Manufacturing
- 5 News
- 6 Sources
History
In Mesoamerica, during pre-Hispanic times and the arrival of the Spanish, the macahuitl or Mexican “sword” stood out, an offensive weapon of war, also known as “achcayupil” by the Cakchiqueles and that the chroniclers of the conquest cited with the names of ” macana ”“ sword of razors ”,“ of spectacles ”or“ chay ”.
Concept
It was a thick cane, made of hard and heavy wood, on whose edges a few sharpened slabs or blades of obsidian 3 to 5 cm wide and 8 or 10 cm long were secured, secured with a very strong glue or paste and gut ligatures of animals so that they do not come off with the impacts.
How to use
The macahuitl was wielded together with a chimalli (wooden shield), or if it was bigger, with only two hands, the macahuilt was brandished like any sword, taking advantage of the weight as a mace, a blow from this weapon was a horrible wound , the obsidian found on the edges did not cut, but tore the opponent’s tissues painfully, it was even layers of amputating limbs of the body.
Manufacturing
Its construction was quite simple, he cut a piece of wood of Ocote (Wood located in the downtown area of Mexico ) and was given the shape of the table. Obsidian is a glass of washing dries very strong (three times more resistant than glass shielded), and very sharp, it was the shape of the blades and butted in wood, they broke into the flesh of the enemy was a strategy to keep it cut.
Present
It is curious that some aboriginal peoples of the Pacific make use of a combat weapon so similar to the Mexican macahuitl, consisting of a sturdy wooden stake with alecrin teeth embedded in the edges and shorter supplementary hello blades.
