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quistadors as cutting better than the Spanish swords and being so cleverly constructed that the blades could be neither pulled out nor broken.
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There are no known surviving examples of the macuahuitl.68However, there are numerous illustrations in various sixteenth-century drawings, and, as with the lance, one example did survive in the Real Armería in Madrid until it was destroyed in 1884. A print remains, but it is also mislabeled (see fig. 10).69 As with the thrusting spear, the stone blades of the macuahuitl in the print are closely set, forming a virtually continuous cutting edge. Other drawings indicate that they were sometimes discontinuous, forming a gapped, possibly serrated, edge.70 I can find no depictions of the typical Aztec macuahuitl predating the postclassic. In several early postclassic carvings at Chichen Itza, however, single warriors are holding clubs with two separated blades protruding from each side,71 these may have been early variants of the macuahuitl. Another example comes from a mural from the eighth-century Maya site of Bonampak, in which one warrior is wielding a club with blades on one side and a single point or blade on the other.72 |
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Clubs of various types were also used in Mesoamerican warfare.73 Some were made of wood alone, but others (huitzauhqui) had stone blades.74 Another type of club was the cuauhololli (see fig. 33), a simple wooden club with a spherical ball at the end.75 The cuauhololli is a crusher and is thus effective in the downward blow but notably less so on the upward. Moreover, its lateral blows are probably less effective in absolute terms and impractical in combat. Yet another type of club was the macuahuitzoctli, which had a knob of wood protruding from each of its four sides and a pointed tip, 76 which Seler77 likens to the medieval ''morning star'' club. These relatively unspecialized clubs were fairly widespread.78 |
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Aztec defensive weapons included shields, helmets, and various types of body armor. Aztec military shields (yaochimalli) were of a variety of designs and materials, with many being made of hide or plaited palm leaves 79 (see Figs. 4, 5, 7, 13, 15, 3133). One conquistador described shields, called otlachimalli, made of strong woven cane with heavy double cotton backing.80 An early account describes |
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