Article suitable for Top Juniors and above

Question for November 2009

Which was the Aztecs’ most fearsome weapon?? Asked by Kettlefields CP School. Chosen and answered by Our In-House Team

The Aztecs/Mexica fought with a range of weapons which, while seeming ‘primitive’ on a technological level, were in their way highly effective and which had evolved in some cases (such as the atlatl dart thrower) over many centuries and via many cultures.

Their offensive weapons are sometimes divided into projectile weapons - designed to strike the enemy from some distance away, and shock weapons for use in hand-to-hand fighting. Of these, perhaps the most fearsome of all was the maquahuitl, a cross between a broadsword and a club. Basically of two kinds - the smaller and most popular one-handed type and the much larger two-handed model - they were made of (usually oak) wood, studded with razor-sharp obsidian blades stuck into grooves along the edge(s).

Some have claimed that the maquahuitl was able to cut the head from a (Spanish) horse with a single blow. Cleverly designed, it was impossible to remove or break the blades (obsidian, though super-sharp, is also, being a volcanic glass, brittle and can break easily) as they only protruded a little way from the grooves.

As Professor Manuel Aguilar-Moreno has pointed out, it was the shock weapons of the Aztecs that often determined the outcome of battles. The maquahuitl must have been a truly fearsome weapon, though of value only in hand-to-hand combat...

Picture sources:-
• Artist’s impression: drawn specially for Mexicolore by Felipe Dávalos
• Imitation maquahuitl: photo by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore

Info:-
Handbook to Life in the Aztec World by Manuel Aguilar-Moreno, Facts on File, New York, 2006

Comments (1)

Zoe

9th Apr 2014

Ian, Dennis has an artist who makes an absolute beautiful reproduction of the maquahtil and if you want inlays or any design he will even do that. The reproduction is $250.00 and that isn’t counting S&H!

Mexicolore

Thanks, Zoe. We take to schools a splendid one-handed maquahuitl made by a professional knapper and friend of ours, Paul Wilding, based here in London.