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Fig. 9.
Matlatzinca slingers. (Med. Palat. 220, c. 133; courtesy of the Biblioteca
Medicea Laurenziana, Florence) |
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ficiently effective that the slinger and the archer were essentially equals;
48 when both were used, they were complementary and usually served close together.49 |
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Shock weapons cut, crush, and puncture in hand-to-hand combat, and it is these that determine the outcome of battles. Among the Aztecs, these weapons included thrusting spears, swords, and clubs. |
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Aztec thrusting spears (tepoztopilli) were described as longer than those of the Spaniards and as having a braza (1.67 meters or 5.5 feet)50 of stone blades that cut better than the Spanish knives, well enough, in fact, for the Indians to use them to shave their heads.51 Terming this implement a lance or spear distorts its actual function in combat: the length of the blade indicates that it was used to slash and not simply to thrust, which would have been as easily achieved |
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