![]() The core was turned around and blades were struck off around the entire circumference of the standing core. The top was hit downward to flake off long, rectangular strips of the stone. The blades were struck from a carefully prepared blade core stood on its end. Caution must be applied in acquiring ancient obsidian artifacts because the stone does not patinate on the surface like other lithic types.Ĭore-struck obsidian prismatic blades were a hallmark industry of the Aztecs. Mineral and sediment can be seen deep in flake scars which are indicators ONLY found in AUTHENTIC specimens such as this. The tip has been masterfully flaked to a point. The base has been carefully flaked to a reduced end to allow it the blade to be hafted to a handle. They believed obsidian, like everything in nature, had a spirit.īecause of the age and fragile nature of this blade, it is amazing it survived intact and complete. Aztec noble classes wore obsidian jewelry and Aztec priests polished the obsidian to a mirror-like sheen and claimed to divine the future with it. Green obsidian was precious and transparent green obsidian was most sought after. Blood-letting tools like this can be seen in the ancient codices showing Indians piercing their lips, tongues, cheeks and foreskins to bleed themselves as an offering to the gods. It was made from transparent green CRYSTAL obsidian - a color of obsidian prized and reserved only for ritual, prestige and the aristocracy of the culture. It was really light and it’s length around 10 inches.This is a RARE blood-letting prismatic scalpel blad e for blood sacrifice from the Pre-Columb ian Aztec Culture. 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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