Information AboutTepoztopilli |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT TEPOZTOPILLI | |
| ancient weapons | |
| aztec warfare | |
| mesoamerican military equipment | |
| pole weapons | |
| blade weapons | |
| nahuatl words and phrases | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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The tepoztopilli was a common front-lines weapon of the Aztec military. The tepoztopilli was a pole-arm, and to judge from depictions in various aztec codices was roughly the height of a man, with a broad wooden head about twice the length of the users palm or shorter, edged with razor-sharp obsidian blades, seated deeply in grooves carved into the head, and cemented in place with bitumen or plant resin as an adhesive. This made the weapon vaguely similar to the Macuahuitl or " Macana ", however it had a much smaller cutting edge and a longer handle. This gave the weapon a superior reach, but blows had to be more carefully executed. The Tepoztopilli is commonly mistermed as an "obsidian spear"; this term is erroneous (see Spear ) in this case, as the weapon was used for slashing (like a Halberd or battle-ax), not stabbing (like a true spear). In fact, most artistic representations of the tepoztopilli do not even feature terminal blades (thus the weapon would be useless for thrusting), they are simply bladed on the edges of the broad wooden head. REFERENCES
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