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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 467280" data-attributes="member: 1645">I found an interesting <a href="http://www.cmog.org/page.cfm?page=278" target="_blank">article</a> on obsidian blades (like the macuahuitl) used by the Aztecs.  An excerpt:The Spanish crushed the Aztec empire with amazing ease, and the Americans' technological inferiority was undoubtedly partly responsible. The conquistadors had gunpowder and horses; the Aztecs had neither. However, blades of the Aztecs swords, made of obsidian, were sharper than steel. They could behead a horse.Obsidian is a kind of glass formed during volcanic eruptions, and it shares all of the basic physical properties of ordinary glass. The fact that the edge of a newly chipped flake is sharper than surgical steel was only discovered in the 1970's, and it has led to the use of obsidian blades in eye surgery, since the evenness of their cut permits much faster healing. The Aztecs called their obsidian-edged sword macuahuitl. Usually the swords were lined with ten blades; five on each side. Because obsidian is glass, it naturally fractures into a sharp, even, predictably shaped blade when chipped. Also because it's glass, it is brittle and cannot be resharpened. The blades on swords undoubtedly had to be replaced after a few uses; this is the main reason steel eventually supplanted obsidian after the Spanish conquest.Why didn't the Aztecs fare better against the Spanish with such effective swords? Probably because the swords didn't have tips and were not meant to pierce; they were designed only for lashing. An adept swordsman could fend off an Indian simply by ducking a swing of a sword and then running the enemy through.Obsidian was used extensively among pre-Colombian societies throughout North and South America, but it reaches its highest development at the hands of the Aztecs. They used the blades for both hunting and warfare. Obsidian provided the projectile points for spears and arrows. Obsidian tools were used to shape the shafts of spears, arrows, and swords. Obsidian knives cut feathers and the cotton thread out of which mantles bestowed on successful warriors were made. The glass was used in butchering and in sacrifice. It was even used to cut a stillborn child into pieces before removal from the womb. And the versatility of obsidian made it a prized trade item.The extreme sharpness of obsidian blades may help to explain why the Aztecs were willing to submit to self sacrifice. They cut their tongues and ears with obsidian blades on ritual occasions, caught the falling blood on the index finger, and flipped the blood in the direction of the sun or the moon. Such self-mutilation was formerly believed to be quite painful, but it is now understood that a fresh obsidian blade is so sharp one can barely feel a cut into the flesh.</blockquote>

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