Aztec warfare

A macuahuitl is a Mesoamerican weapon consisting of a wooden sword with several embedded obsidian blades. The name is derived from the Nahuatl language and means "hand-wood". Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades traditionally made from obsidian, which is capable of producing an edge sharper than high quality steel razor blades. The macuahuitl was a standard close combat weapon.

Aztec Military Unit

ritual war fought intermittently between the Aztec Triple Alliance and its enemies from 1450s to the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519

class of Aztec infantry soldier

type of military activity

thumb|Macana club used by Indigenous Amazon rainforest|Amazonians The term macana, of Taíno origin, refers to various wooden weapons used by the various native cultures of Central and South America. These weapons were referred to as a hadzab or hats'ab in Yucatecan Mayan.

thumb|Nahuatl [[glyph of a calmecac (codex Mendoza, recto of the folio 61).]]

left|thumb| A tlacochcalcatl pictured in the Codex Mendoza folio 67r. He is brandishing a shield (chimalli) and a lance ([[tepoztopilli), he wears a skull helmet, dyed cotton armour and has a banner (pamitl) on his back]] Tlacochcalcatl ( "The man from the house of darts") was an Aztec military title or rank; roughly equivalent to the modern title of field marshal. In Aztec warfare the tlacochcalcatl was second in command only to the tlatoani and he usually led the Aztec army into battle when the ruler was otherwise occupied. Together with the tlacateccatl (general), he was in charge of the Az

300px|thumb|Tepoztōpīlli from the Armeria Real collection in Madrid thumbnail|A page from the Codex Mendoza depicting Aztec warriors each wielding a tepoztopilli 100px|left|thumb|Modern replica of a tepoztopilli. The tepoztopilli was a common front-line weapon of the Aztec military. The tepoztopilli was a pole-arm, and to judge from depictions in various Aztec codices it was roughly the height of a man, although historian John Pohl indicates that the weapon used between the 12th and 14th century was made in sizes from in length. The wedge-shaped wooden head, about twice the length of the users

thumb|A tlacateccatl pictured in the Codex Mendoza (folio 67 recto). He is brandishing a shield (chimalli) and a lance ([[tepoztopilli), wears dyed cotton armour, and has a banner (pamitl) on his back]]