|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Aztecs received many bows and arrows as tribute.
33 But like atlatl darts, arrows were made during the feast of Quecholli (at least this was the time the normal war supply was made). Reeds gathered for shafts were straightened over fires and smoothed. Then they were cut to equal size, just as the arrow points were standardized. The ends were bound with maguey fiber so they would not split, the points were glued to the shafts with pine pitch, and the arrows were fletched.34 Making the arrows uniform meant greater accuracy for the archers, as the effects of given bow pulls would be similar and predictable. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo mentioned the deadly effect of the Indians' archery and reported that the people of Cimatlan could shoot an arrow through a double thickness of well quilted cotton armor.35 The archers of Teohuacan (Tehuacan) were reputedly so skilled that they could shoot two or three arrows at a time as skillfully as most could shoot one.36 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quantitative data are lacking for the Aztecs, but tests with North American Indian bows indicate ranges of about 90 to 180 meters (300600 feet),37 varying with the size and pull of the bow and the weight of the arrows. The stone points normally used on Aztec arrows were the equal to steel points. Obsidian points are markedly superior in penetrating animal tissue, by approximately threefold,38 the result of the superior cutting edges of the glasslike obsidian, the serrated edges of the points, and their colloidal shape.39 The Spaniards felt the stone arrow points to be particularly damaging.40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Completing the projectile triad were maguey-fiber slings (tematlatl) used to hurl stones at the enemy.41 The stones thrown by the slings were not casually collected at the battle site but were hand-shaped rounded stones stockpiled in advance, and these also were sent to Tenochtitlan as tribute42 (see fig. 9). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comparative data indicate that slings have a range in excess of 200 meters (660 feet) with randomly selected stones, exceeded 400 meters (1320 feet) with lead pellets in ancient Greece;43 slingers in the imperial Roman army could pierce chain mail at 500 paces.44 As with arrows, standardizing the pellet shape and size increases velocity, distance, and accuracy, and such pellets could be lethal against even armored targets.45 Díaz del Castillo admired the Indians' use of bows, lances, and swords, but he commented that the sling stones were even more damaging,46 the hail of stones being so furious that even well-armored Spanish soldiers were wounded.47 Slings were suf- |
|
|
|
|
|