emerging from their former homeland called Aztlan or "place of the herons", an island in a lake where men went out to fish from boats. Aztec codices record that they began their wandering journey in 1100 A.D. The origin of the Aztec (Azteca) Empire is legendary. Colonial era codices exist in greater number with roughly 500 separate codices known, showing extensive pictograms as well as being written in Spanish, Latin and in the original Nahuatl language. These codices were created by the Aztecs in pictorial form, as well as by other indigenous tribal sources, all of which had no written language. An extensive and detailed collection of written and pictorial records exist for us today called CODICES (CODEX if singular) were produced before Spanish contact by the native tribes themselves, and afterwards during the Colonial period. While many ancient civilizations remain a mystery, little can be left to conjecture when it comes to the details of the Aztec way of life. I mpacted sediment and mineralized deposits are deep in microscopic crevices - traits ONLY seen in AUTHENTIC SPECIMENS. RARELY does a core of this quality and size ever survive as the long blades these cores produced, were continuously removed from the core until virtually nothing was left of a small, incomplete core of shorter length and a thin, exhausted cross-sectional profile.Įvidence of ancient use is apparent on the striking platform and faceted gourd-like form from prismatic blades having been struck from this core. Blades were systematically struck off the sides of the core as it was rotated in series as each blade was removed. The core was stood on its curved end and struck from the top. ![]() ![]() The prized prismatic obsidian blades used and traded by the Aztecs required skillfully prepared and struck blade cores like this specimen. These blades were heavily used in the design of many of their weapons such as the unusual Macuahuitl obsidian blade club, a weapon so effective that it was once documented in an ancient codex to have decapitated a Spanish conquistador's horse with a single blow from an Aztec warrior. It was really light and it’s length around 10 inches.Finding Pre-Columbian prismatic obsidian blade cores that are large, complete and not fully exhausted, are EXTREMELY RARE! Here is one of those very rare opportunities to acquire a textbook-perfect, museum-class specimen! The Aztecs above all other Pre-Columbian cultures, were famous for mastering the manufacture of core-struck long, unbroken prismatic blades in obsidian. It’s naturally made and a handle was attached to it. The knife is made from obsidian which a volcanic glass that is really sharp. Afterwards the enemies were kept alive, as prisoners and were later used for ceremonial purposes, such as human sacrifice. The jaguar warriors fought the near tribes and often won, creating the famous Aztec Empire. When it came to its use in warfare it was considered effective. From what it’s currently found it could easily be spotted that each knife could be considered unique and it has its own representation. The problem here is that too little knives only survived. There are different types of knives used for this ritual, shape and design to make the ritual more pleasant. The victim was still alive while his hearth was removed. This was used for pleasing the gods and had had to do a selected amount of rituals each year. It was used by the priests to open up the chests of the victims so they could extract the hearth. This knife is associated with the beginning of the Aztec mythology and it’s really hard to explain in a short article. It could be used to start a fire making it really useful when you were on a journey or whenever a quick fire is needed. The knife could also be used as a flint because of it’s material. The knife has multiple meanings and it has big importance in their world, this is the reason for using it in their human sacrifice rituals.īesides it’s mythological function this knife was very useful, it had meanings in the Aztec calendar as a symbol, it was a lunar symbol and ruled over agricultural events. It was sharp enough to cause some damage and it could be used from various directions giving it stealth and deadlines.īefore we continue note that this isn’t just a simple knife, it’s one of the most complex symbols of iconographic in the Aztec religion. This knife was traditionally used by the Priests for human sacrifice in the Aztec culture but was also used as a short range secondary weapon by the jaguar warriors. The Tecpatl knife that had a lanceolate figure and was sharpen from both sides of the blade. The Aztec culture is vast and complex, it has many traditions that are considered mysterious and taboo from our perspective.
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