![]() It was also tossed at much greater force as it provided 60% more thrust than a normal spear and remarkably more penetrative power than arrows. The atlatl possessed an impressive range of 55 meters (180 feet), with an extreme reach of 74 meters (243 feet), enabling the user to throw a projectile at a longer range than hand-thrown spears. The darts also had ceremonial importance, usually being manufactured during the feast to Quecholli, an alcohol-fueled festival that celebrated the god of the hunt, Mixcotl. The conquistadors attested that the darts of the atlatl were so sharp they could pierce any type of armor and cause fatal damage. The barbed dart was particularly feared by Spanish conquistadors, who had to cut it out of their wound instead of pull. The atlatl launched several types of specialized projectiles including two-pronged, three-pronged, and barbed darts which were made from fish bone, copper, flint, and obsidian points often hardened in fire. Loops or pegs constructed on the side a third of the way up the atlatl ensured Aztec warriors maintained good grip. One extant example has two grooves, suggesting that on some atlatl two darts could be simultaneously loaded. Emblazoned on its topmost point was a hook and a groove in the wood where projectiles were placed. It was roughly 0.6 meters (2 feet) in length and 35 millimeters (1.4 inches) in width at its top, narrowing down to 19 to 25 millimeters (0.74-1.0 inches) at its bottom. ![]() ![]() The atlatl was an Aztec weapon used to smite the enemy at range with a variety of darts and spears. (Zeph77 / CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Atlatl, Bow and Arrow, and Sling: Projectile Weapons Here a young man is competing in an Atlatl competition held at Chimney Point, Vermont, US. The atlatl, an Aztec weapon that has few competitors, can launch long darts with extreme negative outcomes. Aztec projectile and shock weapons usually featured this signature glass, as did its most fearsome cudgel, the macauahuitl, which cut short the lives of many Spanish invaders as the ancient Empire fell. In fact, it’s still used today in surgical instruments, owing to its superior sharpness. It was extremely strong, with obsidian points able to penetrate animal skin three times more effectively than other materials. Obsidian was also widely incorporated into an array of Aztec weapons. ![]() Religion of the Aztecs: Keeping the Balance in an Unpredictable and Terrifying World.The Lost City of Aztlan – Legendary Homeland of the Aztecs.Three of the Aztec’s nine underworld levels were supposedly characterized with obsidian layers, with one requiring the dead to walk a path of obsidian shards. In Aztec mythology, the god, Tezcatlipoca, who was said to have invented human sacrifice, was closely associated with obsidian. The work tools that helped them build impressive aqueduct systems, pyramids, and which were used in their advanced medical and surgical procedures were all made out of this dark material, which also had ceremonial as well as practical uses. (British Museum / CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Aztec Weapons: Obsidian Instruments of DeathĪztec society was inextricably intertwined with the material known as obsidian, a type of black glass which was found in plentiful supply around the volcanoes of modern-day Mexico they called home. Sacrificial knife, Aztec or Mixtec, Late Postclassic (15th-16th century AD), part of the British Museum collection, London. Despite their technological handicaps, they were incredibly skilled at making a variety of murderous armaments that often competed with the steel-forged armories of their Spanish foes, whose conquest of the Aztecs and their lands represented a grisly and infamous chapter of early American history.Īztec weapons ranged from bows and arrows to advanced knives like this one made of stone. The Aztecs were a native Mesoamerican culture that thrived in the forests, jungles, and plains of Central Mexico from 1300 until 1521, when their capital Tenochtitlan was seized by Hernán Cortés and his legion of Spanish conquistadors.
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