The Tonaltec Variant of the Macuahuitl During the Late Postclassic. A View from Experimental Archaeology

Abstract

The Atemajac Valley was the seat of various complex societies during the Mesoamerican period. The last of them was the manor or altepetl of Tonalá, which was in the process of military expansion upon the arrival of the Spanish, and had even rejected the incursions of the Tarasco State a few decades before. In 1530 this indigenous political entity was subdued by Nuño de Guzmán to create the New Kingdom of Galicia or Nueva Galicia. In the indigenous testimonies of this conflict, especially the Lienzo de Tlaxcala and in the reports of merits of the conquerors, we have a record of a unique weapon used exclusively by the Tonaltecas, which is a local variant of the Mesoamerican macuahuitl. Through experimental archeology, said weapon was replicated to verify its actual functioning, as well as if it really differs from the macuahuitl used in the Altiplano region. The purpose is to begin to glimpse not only the similarities, but also the differences of the panoply of the West with the rest of Mesoamerica.