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This use of the standard as a signaling device may have been an Aztec innovation.
20 Although pottery, mural, and sculptural depictions from earlier eras show similar standards, it is not known whether they functioned in the same fashion.21 |
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Like their civilian attire, the battle dress of the Aztecs showed considerable variation, much of it the result of insignia and special attire granted to individuals to attest to their rank, class, past exploits, or membership in military orders. Offensive weapons were also socially skewed. Virtually everyone carried a shield, but the ichcahuipilli was restricted to warriors of demonstrated skilltequihuahqueh and members of military orders. Lacking this armor, commoners were more vulnerable to the blows delivered to their unprotected head and body, and they died in greater numbers both in projectile barrages and in hand-to-hand combat. |
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The various weapons also carried different social connotations. Shock weapons were generally of higher status than projectile weapons, for at least three reasons. First, both slings and bows were regarded as plebeian, since the latter were commonly used for hunting and they were the arms par excellence of the Chichimecs. Second, effective use of a macuahuitl or a staff weapon required considerable training and practice, which were reflective of class. The situation was much like that of late medieval European armies which were divided between the common archers and billmen, who required a much smaller investment in matériel and training, and the mounted, armored lancers of the nobility. And third, bows and slings were not as effective in combat as shock weapons, particularly against armored opponents. The atlatl was a projectile weapon, but it was revered because of its association with the gods and did not suffer from this stigma. Moreover, it had largely ceased being a utilitarian hunting toolpossibly because of its relatively short rangeand its great penetrating power made it an effective military weapon, even against armored opponents. |
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In sum, then, elite warriors generally wore body armor, helmets, and tlahuiztli suits or ehuatl, carried shields (usually with a protective feather fringe on the bottom): in hand-to-hand combat wielded shock weapons (usually a macuahuitl but perhaps a club or thrusting spear); and also used atlatls and darts. Novice warriors (a category |
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