The term macana, of Taíno origin, refers to various wooden weapons used by the various native cultures of Central America and South America. These weapons were referred to as a hadzab or hats'ab in Yucatecan Mayan.
Meaning and origin
The earliest meaning attributed to
macana is a sword-like weapon made out of wood, but still sharp enough to be dangerous.
[Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, Decades de Orbe Novo (written in the early 16th century):
]
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Cominus hi certant vt plurimum, ensibus oblongis, quos macanas ipsi appellant, ligneis tamen, quia ferrum non assequuntur...
- "In hand to hand combat they generally use long swords, which they call macanas, which are however made of wood, as they don't have knowledge of iron." (p. 127)
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armatum ... arcubus putà & sagittis, machanísque, id est, ensibus amplis, ligneis, oblongis, vtráque manu agitandis...
- "...armed ... for example with bows and arrows, and macanas—that is, with large, wooden, long swords which are wielded two-handedly" (p. 180)
The term is also sometimes applied to the similar
Aztec weapon, which is studded with pieces of
obsidian in order to create a blade, though some authorities distinguish this item by using the
Nahuatl language name
macuahuitl.
In the Andes, the Spanish conquistadors applied the term "macana" to the several blunt, mace-like weapons at the disposal of the Inca army's arsenal, particularly to the Chaska chuqui (lit. star spear) and the Chambi (mace) weapons which consisted of a wooden shaft with a heavy metal (copper or bronze) or stone object at the end. As its name suggests, the Chaska chuqui tip was in a star shape to maximize the potential to break bone. They were the most common weapon in the Inca Empire arsenal, and it is possible that gold or silver was used for the star for high-ranking officers.
In modern Spanish language the word has broadened to refer to various types of blunt wooden weapons, especially a police nightstick, with a shape very similar to Okinawan tonfas.
Uses
The sizes of macanas are thought to have varied significantly, depending on the application. Most were about one meter long, though other macana varieties were larger.
Diversity in macana size likely arose due to various factors, including battle strategy, combatant status or position in the military hierarchy, ethnopolitical group, or environmental factors such as availability of chulul wood.
The most dominant iterations of macanas appear to be broad, flat wooden shafts with grooved edges flanked with obsidian blades held in place by resin or another mastic.
Macana makers may have made their segments shorter to produce more of them per blade from this non-local resource, especially if obsidian grew increasingly scarce.
The obsidian was imported into the lowlands from highland sources in
Guatemala and
Mexico, probably as preformed polyhedral cores.
One-handed use of macanas enables the user to hold a shield in the free hand while larger macana species typically necessitates two hands.
Archeological remains
Many of the obsidian shards used for macanas were prismatic blade segments, which are among the most abundant lithics at late sites in the Maya lowlands.
in sites with macana remains has revealed that some sites, particularly those with large numbers of segments, had bimodal – smaller (ca. 8–10mm) and larger (ca. 20–24 +) – length distributions. This supports the possibility of two sizes of macanas.
Notes
External links
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Pictures from the Codex Ixtlilxochitl featuring the macuahuitl. (Spanish)
