What made this weapon so ferocious was its razor-sharp pieces of obsidian (volcanic glass), which were fitted into a groove along its edges and affixed there with bitumen-a natural glue. Unknown Weapons of the Samurai: The Forgotten Warrior Arsenal from Feudal Japan.A Flexible and Deadly Blade: The Dangerous Urumi.Weapons Control in Ancient Greece: When an Accident was Deadly.
The macuahuitl was 1.6 to 3.2 feet (0.5 to 1 m), in length ThoughtCo reported. Carved out of oak or pine, the wood was decorated in intricate designs. ( The Epoch Times ) What’s a Macuahuitl?Ī simple piece of wood in the shape of a cricket bat-flat and wide on one side, a slender, long hilt on the other-the macuahuitl came to be an icon of the Central American warriors. Illustrations of macuahuitl – Aztec obsidian swords. The macuahuitl ( maquahuitl), however, delivered a shock to the Europeans. The Spanish were familiar with some of the natives’ implements of war : bows and arrows, spears, clubs, and shields. Yet, the Aztec warrior culture wielded a unique weapon of their own that struck fear in the hearts of the conquistadors: the macuahuitl. The Europeans’ steel weapons and armor and their horses allowed them to dominate the natives. It took a few trials to ensure a proper test.The Spanish conquerors of the 16th century were met by the sophisticated Aztec culture when they first landed on the shores of Mexico. Not that it was hard to hold but because you can't allow your hand to come in contact with the test device as the test media is being cut. Holding the piece of obsidian proved to be the only slightly challenging part of the process. We tested the the newly flintknapped piece of obsidian. A lower number indicates that it took less force to cut the test media. This device works by measuring the maximum force it takes to cut a piece of test media. Not only do we sell this machine, but we use it to test products and evaluate sharpening techniques. Testingįor testing to be objective, I used the Edge On Up PT50A Industrial Sharpness Tester from our shop. If there is any advice I'd pass along for the first time flintknapping enthusiast, I would say wear safety glasses and work in an area that you don't mind being contaminated with glass like shards. My example wasn't pretty, but I was able to achieve what I thought was a sharp edge. I am definitely not a flintknapping expert so the purpose of this experiment wasn't to test my skills at crafting a fine blade, but rather to see if I could make an edge that would be as sharp or sharper than a steel edge. In practice, flintkanpping involves striking a piece of rock to break it into sharp flakes. Obsidian is very hard, so I tested obsidian. Flintknappingįlintknapping is the technique used to make an edged tool out of stone such as obsidian, flint and chert. I have heard stories that an obsidian edge can be sharper than a steel blade but I can easily sharpen a steel knife to where my thumb will say it is really sharp. My thumb test came up with really sharp, but I wanted to know more. My thumb only has 4 levels of sharpness really dull, dull, sharp and really sharp. While an obsidian edge definitely feels sharp, I needed more granular detail than my calibrated thumb could provide. This made it possible to be objective about the edge. Fortunately, I have access to the Edge On Up PT50A Industrial Sharpness Tester. If you're not familiar with obsidian, it is a glass like stone that was used historically for making arrowheads and knives. If you're anything like me, the thought of quantifying the sharpness of an obsidian knife is pretty exciting.
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