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7/24/2025, 11:50:30 PM
>>64026176
they were made in a variety of sizes
they were made in a variety of sizes
7/16/2025, 1:44:29 PM
>>63986683
>>63989636
>>63990700
Mesoamerica anon here, I'd call the Macuahuitl a sword, at least within the context of Mesoamerican warfare.
Firstly, the Spanish often described them as swords (or "Macana", I'll get back to that), while Aztec sources called Spanish swords "metal macuauitl"
Secondly, as I said, within the context of Mesoamerican warfare, they seem to have occupied their own niche as a slashing weapon distinct from what are more obviously clubs, maces, axes, or things in between: Compare Macuahuitl on the top here to the Mixtec curved bladed/studded clubs, the "short glaives", "Cuahtli", the various simple clubs, ball headed and torus headed maces, "bladeless" Macuahuitl, the spiked clubs/axes/"war picks", etc
That said, given all of those weapon types, there does seem to have been kinda a spectrum of kinda-blunt, kinda-bladed/spiked weapons, and you could argue the Macuahuitl is just at the bladed/swordlike extreme end of that spectrum. I mentioned "Macana" earlier, and this was a term the Spanish picked up in the West Indies and basically applied to a variety of Indigenous club, bladed club, mace, etc weapons
We don't know how the Mesoamericans classified their own weapons much, the divisions in pic related are basically just what I and my friends think make the most sense to divide them as (and even then, we have some disagreement, it's not done yet, and "the most sense" here is also based on what makes the most sense to explain and visually sort them for the purposes of the infograph alongside what seem like the most obviously distinct types), but if nothing else I think calling the Macuahuitl a club is reductive at best because there are other weapons that are way, way more clearly clublike then it in Mesoamerican warfare
Lastly, it is worth noting that what is maybe the last surviving Macuahuitl, the San Marcos Street Specimen, is pretty thin, enough for me to question it's viability as a blunt weapon, but we don't know how typical it is
>>63989636
>>63990700
Mesoamerica anon here, I'd call the Macuahuitl a sword, at least within the context of Mesoamerican warfare.
Firstly, the Spanish often described them as swords (or "Macana", I'll get back to that), while Aztec sources called Spanish swords "metal macuauitl"
Secondly, as I said, within the context of Mesoamerican warfare, they seem to have occupied their own niche as a slashing weapon distinct from what are more obviously clubs, maces, axes, or things in between: Compare Macuahuitl on the top here to the Mixtec curved bladed/studded clubs, the "short glaives", "Cuahtli", the various simple clubs, ball headed and torus headed maces, "bladeless" Macuahuitl, the spiked clubs/axes/"war picks", etc
That said, given all of those weapon types, there does seem to have been kinda a spectrum of kinda-blunt, kinda-bladed/spiked weapons, and you could argue the Macuahuitl is just at the bladed/swordlike extreme end of that spectrum. I mentioned "Macana" earlier, and this was a term the Spanish picked up in the West Indies and basically applied to a variety of Indigenous club, bladed club, mace, etc weapons
We don't know how the Mesoamericans classified their own weapons much, the divisions in pic related are basically just what I and my friends think make the most sense to divide them as (and even then, we have some disagreement, it's not done yet, and "the most sense" here is also based on what makes the most sense to explain and visually sort them for the purposes of the infograph alongside what seem like the most obviously distinct types), but if nothing else I think calling the Macuahuitl a club is reductive at best because there are other weapons that are way, way more clearly clublike then it in Mesoamerican warfare
Lastly, it is worth noting that what is maybe the last surviving Macuahuitl, the San Marcos Street Specimen, is pretty thin, enough for me to question it's viability as a blunt weapon, but we don't know how typical it is
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