Macuahuitl
Literally: hand-wood
A Mesoamerican wooden sword with obsidian shards set into its sides, whose edge surpassed steel razors; best known from the hands of the Aztecs.
Quick Facts
About the weapon
Macuahuitl, literally "hand-wood" in Nahuatl, was a Mesoamerican wooden sword with an obsidian edge. It is best known from the hands of the Aztecs, but it was also used by the Olmecs, the Maya, the Mixtecs, the Toltecs and the Tarascans. It is documented from the 1st millennium CE, though depictions suggest an even older, Preclassic origin. It was also adopted by the native allies of the Spanish, who nevertheless preferred European steel swords. Obsidian shards about 3 cm long were set into the sides of the wooden blade, glued in with natural bitumen, sometimes with gaps, sometimes in a continuous row. Obsidian gives an edge sharper than quality steel razors. According to the conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo, the weapon measured 0.91 to 1.22 m and was 75 mm wide. There were both one-handed and two-handed versions, the two-handed one reportedly as tall as a man; the smaller mācuāhuitzōctli measured about 50 cm and had only four blades on each side. According to anthropologist John Whittaker, the Aztecs opened battle with atlatl darts before moving to close combat with the macuahuitl. Spanish accounts describe devastating hits: one native warrior reportedly struck a horse so that he split its body open to the entrails and the horse fell dead on the spot.
Related weapons
- Used together with: Atlatl