How did the Aztecs cast their obsidian swords and clubs?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “mayan obsidian knife“
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How did the Aztecs cast their obsidian swords and clubs?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “mayan obsidian knife“
About Mia
A macahuitl (I hope I’m spelling that right) isn’t cast at all. The edge is made up of many separate pieces of knapped (chipped until a sharp edge is formed) stone, set into a wooden ‘blade’ that looks a bit like a cricket bat. This sounds pretty weak, in comparison to a steel weapon, and it is; the stone will dull pretty quickly, or shatter if it hits something harder than itself. It’s not exactly ineffective, though; knapped obsidian can be hellishly sharp, and with the weight of the wooden implement it’s set into would do some impressive damage.
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The Mexica (the Aztecs name for themselves) did not cast obsidian. It was found and knapped then affixed in place with resin and peg and blocking techniques
The weapons were mostly sturdy wood and, despite being a late stone age weapon, the unbelievable sharpness of obsidian meant they could nearly decapitate a horse. The clubs were large and could hurt even armoured Spanish soldiers by sheer blunt impact
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“How did the Aztecs cast their obsidian swords and clubs?”
You should probably lookup what ‘Obsidian’ is; as it is volcanic glass, you can’t actually “cast” it like it was a metal ore.
And the Aztec’s were not the only people who made cutting edges from stone.
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Well, you wouldn’t cast obsidian, you’d knap it since it’s a rock. Knapping is the act of chipping away parts of a rock from both sides until you achieve a sharp edge. Obsidian blades are still used in eye surgery today as it’s possible to craft an obsidian blade that’s up to 40 times sharper than modern stainless steel surgical blades.
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Those interested in pre-Columbian warfare might go to Wikipedia to see the “atl-atl.” Think of it as a three foot extension to an Aztec warrior’s arm for throwing a spear carrying an obsidian point. As soon as the waring forces were fighting face to face, they no longer needed the atl-atl because the ultimate goal was to capture living warriors to sacrifice on their respective pyramids, c.f. “flowery wars.”
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