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The initial fusillade likely continued until the projectiles began to be depleted. The armies then closed during the waning moments of the mass barrage to take advantage of the covering fire,
26 as further delay would have needlessly exposed the warriors who had shot all their projectiles. It was during this advance that the atlatl was most used. It could not match the range of the bow and sling projectiles, but the darts could be thrown with maximum effect during the time required to close with the enemy, striking the opposing soldiers with enormous force and disrupting their formations. These were elite weapons wielded by soldiers advancing on the enemy.27 But once in hand-to-hand combat the atlatl was cumbersome, since it was held in the right hand and prevented the use of a defensive parrying weapon. Moreover, the darts were quickly exhausted, as atlatl wielders apparently carried only a few; no more than four or five darts (and usually only three) are ever seen being held by a single warrior.28 This may be an artistic convention intended to convey the presence of more such darts, but that seems unlikely, on three counts. First, the weapons are realistically presented in painted and carved depictions of atlatl-wielding warriors. Second, their likely use in the combat sequence (see below) argues in favor of limiting the number carried into battle, at least during the postclassic period. And third, they are not shown in a quiver or other container but loose, as one would expect for immediate combat use (see below).29 |
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During the advance while the right hand was occupied with the atlatl, other weapons were held with the shield hand in a reversed position, handle forward.30 But once the armies closed, shock weapons were used,31 and the atlatl32 was discontinued. It may have been attached to the shield33 or, more likely, have simply been dropped. Although some soldiers continued projectile fire throughout the battle,34 the slingers and archers probably remained back, since they were extremely vulnerable to shock-weapon attack, which inflicted the decisive injuries.35 Once the armies closed, moreover, slingers and archers lost their massed targets and could strike only individually and opportunistically. They were also used to counter the enemy's archers and slingers and to harass reinforcements and prevent encirclement. Both this attack sequence and the role of the atlatl find support in a mural in the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza and in scenes in various codices. Stela 5 at the classic Mayan site of Uaxactun depicts a Mexicanized warrior bearing an atlatl in the left hand and a bladed club in the right.36 |
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