Large Cutlass-Shaped Weapon (Of Obsidian) and Cast
date: label: Accession Date
content: 5 Jun 1886
name: label: Collector
content: Rev. Fischer
label: Donor Name
content: Wilson W. Blake
notes: label: Notes
content: On display in National Museum of Natural History exhbit "Objects of Wonder", 2017 - 2024. Exhibit label: Sickle-shaped obsidian knife, Mesoamerican, Teotihuacan, Mexico, AD 150 - 650; Obsidian. Many Pre-Columbian Mexican cultures prized obsidian for its glossy sheen and razor-sharp edges. Obsidian forms naturally when silica-rich lava cools at the Earth's surface. Miners gathered the brittle volcanic glass, and craftsmen flaked off pieces along curved fracture surfaces to make weapons and tools for rituals and daily use.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Mar 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Morelos, Mexico, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 017619
label: USNM Number
content: A98824-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Biface