1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,319 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing on particular objects, ideas, and 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: moments in time. Artifacts have long enabled human beings to 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: create for themselves the defensive and offensive features found naturally 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: elsewhere in the animal kingdom. We lacked the talent, but 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: invented the dagger, devised in our minds and created with 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: our hands. Weapons and armor of some sort can be 10 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: found everywhere humans spread throughout the world. In many cases, 11 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: the form and function of traditional weapons are much the same, 12 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: but there's still a huge variety in materials and form. 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: One of the more fascinating specimens of human weaponcraft is 14 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: the maqui eedle of Mesoamerica. In the Nawatto language, the 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: name means hand would, and it's served as a ferocious 16 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: weapon for various peoples of this region, including the Maya, 17 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: the Toltecs, and the Aztecs. The maquahedle may be described 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: in various ways, often comparing it to other tools and weapons. 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: As the name seems to imply, it is a handheld 20 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: length of shaped wood. Some seventy centimeters long a little 21 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: over two feet, It was wielded with two hands, though 22 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: a shorter variation also existed. The tendency here, of course, 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: is to compare the weapon to either a club or 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: a sword, and this was certainly the case when Spanish 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: forces first observed the maquahedle during the sixteenth century. But 26 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: this is a weapon of wood, not metal, unlike the 27 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:42,479 Speaker 1: typical sword. Yet early Western commentators noted its exceptional cutting ability. 28 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: This due to the six to eight blades of obsidians 29 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: set into the weapon on two sides. As such, it 30 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: is easy to think of it as a toothed blade, 31 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: or is it a toothed club or mace? As pointed 32 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: out by Marco Antonio severa are Gone in his two 33 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: thousand and six paper the Maquahito, An Innovative Weapon of 34 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: the Late post Classic in Mesoamerica, published in Arms and Armor, 35 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: it is perhaps far more reasonable to consider it neither, 36 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: he writes quote. The maquahito cannot be called a club 37 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: since it did not fulfill a bruising function, and it 38 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: cannot be called a sword since the sword's characteristic functions 39 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: are to pierce and to cut. As such, Overgone argues 40 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: that the Maquahito is a uniquely Mesoamerican weapon with no 41 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: Western counterpart. He also points out that the origins of 42 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: the weapon are murky. There has been some confusion regarding 43 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: the classification of similar weapons, and there is both much 44 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: that was lost to the destruction brought by the Europeans 45 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: and much that remains archaeologically undiscovered. But it seems the 46 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: weapon emerged between the early and late Post Classic period 47 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: in central Mexico as a response to changing battlefield necessities. 48 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: Archaeological evidence of the weapon technology is scant, but the 49 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: best known original example of a maquehedal was destroyed in 50 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: a fire at the Royal Armory in Madrid, Spain, back 51 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty nine. But based on accounts, artistic depictions 52 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: and recreations, it seems the weapon was indeed quite fearsome. 53 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: The sharpened blades were more than capable of slicing through 54 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: flesh and even fracturing bone, though the obsidian would have 55 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,639 Speaker 1: broken on contact with the bone. Is Obregon points out 56 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: the shattering of the blade's edge in these instances would 57 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: have created micro flakes of obsidian that would have made 58 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: healing all the more difficult for the victim, but the 59 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: wooden form of the weapon would remain strong. While some 60 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: of the blades would break from impact, they would remain 61 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: set in the wood, and the maquehedral would remain a 62 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:48,120 Speaker 1: viable weapon for the remainder of the bloody battle. Tune 63 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: in for additional editions of the artifact each week, hosted 64 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: by either Joe or myself. As always, you can email 65 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 66 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I 67 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 68 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.