Description:

Pre-Columbian, Mesoamerica, Colima & Aztec, ca. 300 BCE to 1500 CE. A collection of chert and obsidian stone blade and projectile points, used as ritualistic or prestige burial items, and possibly as tools or weapons. The largest is a biface scraper or hand axe, flaked from a large chert stone, and the lanceolate chert is semi-translucent around the peripheries when backlit. The arrow shaped blade is made from a lustrous obsidian, the notched shoulders enabling this blade to be easily hafted to a shaft as a spear or projectile. Obsidian was revered for its naturally glassy surface that fractured into razor sharp edges. While the large scraper tool may have been utilitarian the obsidian and lanceolate blade may have been votive pieces for burial, rather than warfare. Size of chert scraper: 5.25" L x 2.5" W (13.3 cm x 6.4 cm)

Obsidian - "iztli" to them - fascinated the ancient Mesoamericans; the Aztecs even had a god, Tezcatlipoca, who was the Lord of the Smoking Obsidian Mirror; indeed obsidian was used to create mirrors as well. Furthermore, in a world without metal, obsidian's ability to be sharp was also especially important for ceremonies of ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice. The difficult-to-obtain material came from volcanic sources in the Sierra Madre of Mexico and in Guatemala, was traded hundreds of miles to meet the demand for sharp cutting tools and ritual objects, and then was struck using a deer antler or small hammer stones to form blades.

Provenance: private Englewood, Colorado USA collection; ex-Martin Boxer estate, Denver, Colorado, USA

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#175241

  • Condition: Chips to periphery of lanceolate blade and fins on obsidian arrow, otherwise all are in great condition. Light earthen / mineral deposits on obsidian.

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January 29, 2023 9:00 AM MST
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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