Macanas in the Postclassic Maya Lowlands? A Preliminary Look

ABSTRACT

Abundant obsidian prismatic blade segments in late (Late Postclassic/Colonial; ca. AD 1300–1700) lowland Maya lithic assemblages, generally ignored, are evaluated against the possibility that they were used in macanas, broadsword-like weapons resembling the Aztec macuahuitl, as attested by Spanish chroniclers. Measurements of 4,664 segments, proximal, medial, and distal, from seven sites around the central Peten (Guatemala) lakes, plus Tipu and Santa Rita Corozal (Belize) and Mayapan (Yucatan, Mexico), were analyzed. Segment dimensions are highly variable, both within and between sites, but appear to have had two modal sizes, rectangular (minimally 12 × 8 mm) and smaller and squarish (around 10–12 mm square). Macanas themselves also may have been made in two sizes, small and large. Although it cannot be proven that the segments were used in Maya macanas, the possibility warrants further study.

KEYWORDS:

• Obsidian
• weaponry
• macana
• macuahuitl
• Lowland Maya
• postclassic/colonial

Acknowledgments

Collection and analysis of the obsidian artifacts was funded by the National Science Foundation under grants BNS-7813736, DBS-9222373, SBR-9515443, and DDIG 1146372 to Nathan Meissner; and the National Endowment for the Humanities under grant RZ-50520-06. Measurement of the Peten obsidian segments was carried out at various times since the late 1970s by Mark Aldenderfer, Meissner, Matthew Yacubic, and the author. I thank Marilyn Masson for graciously sharing the data on Mayapan segments, and Zachary Hruby for kindly sending the segment data from Tayasal Structure T247. Two reviewers provided thoughtful suggestions for improvement of the final article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Collection and analysis of the obsidian artifacts was funded by the National Science Foundation under grants BNS-7813736, DBS-9222373, SBR-9515443, and DDIG 1146372 to Nathan Meissner; and the National Endowment for the Humanities under grant RZ-50520-06.

Notes on contributors

Prudence M. Rice

Archaeologist Prudence M. Rice retired in 2011 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she was distinguished professor and associate vice chancellor for research. She has directed field projects in Maya archaeology in Guatemala and in colonial Andean archaeology in Peru. Her research interests have long centered on pottery and obsidian, and their production/sources and circulation. She has published 122 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and 22 books, singly or co-authored or co-edited, including Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Rice lives in warm, sunny Gainesville, Florida, with her husband Don, three cats, and slowly progressing landscaping.