Obsidian-Blade Weapons

Timeline

1. c. -1000–900Maya highland and lowland trade routes · GuatemalaFrom the Preclassic to the Classic period, obsidian from El Chayal and elsewhere was professionally knapped into blades and macroblades and traded along river-valley and coastal networks to polities such as Tikal and Calakmul; the blades were also used for hunting, warfare, and bloodletting rituals.
2. 1051Yucatán Peninsula polity war zones · Yucatán PeninsulaAs Postclassic polity competition intensified in the 1050s, obsidian macroblades and hafted weapons were commonly found in warrior and elite tombs; blade sources still depended on highland trade, reflecting Yucatán warfare's reliance on Mesoamerican resource networks.
3. c. 1520–1600Mesoamerica · MesoamericaSpanish steel swords, firearms, and metal armor held the advantage in the conquest wars, and obsidian blades gradually ceased to be primary combat equipment; some blades continued in ritual use or as symbols of resistance, and the knapping tradition slowly persisted in some communities.