spear-thrower no relation prismatic blade
Description
The maquahuitl (Classical Nahuatl: māccuahuitl, other orthographic variants include mākkwawitl and mācquahuitl; plural māccuahuimeh), a type of macana, was a common weapon used by the Aztec military forces and other cultures of central Mexico. It was noted during the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the region. Other military equipment recorded includes the round shield (chīmalli, [t͡ʃiˈmalːi]), the bow (tlahuītōlli, [t͡ɬaʔwiːˈtoːlːi]), and the spear-thrower (ahtlatl, [ˈaʔt͡ɬat͡ɬ]). Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades traditionally made from obsidian (volcanic glass); obsidian is capable of producing an edge sharper than high-quality steel razor blades.It was capable of inflicting serious lacerations from the rows of obsidian blades embedded in its sides. These could be knapped into blades or spikes, or into a circular design that looked like scales. The macuahuitl is not specifically a sword or a club, although it approximates a European broadsword. Historian Marco John Percival Polo defines the weapon as a "kind of a saw sword".
no relation