Pre-colombian weapons anyone?

fearn · 26th October 2008, 05:42 PM

Hi Jim,

Always glad to do research for you. I don't have a collection like Lemmy's, but at the Museum of Man in San Diego, they've got an interesting exhibit that shows all phases of Andean trepanation, including the skulls. They show trepanned skulls and some stone blades they believe were used in trepanation. They also show skulls from people killed by cogwheel maces, and some of the mace heads, such as Lemmy has. The wounds in the skulls matched the shapes of the cog points.

So, yes, those cogwheel maces were used in battle. Trepanning (cutting a hole in the skull) looks like it was used as a way to repair the damage from a mace blow (among other things). The surgeon would cut around the impacted area and remove them the bone fragments, basically as a way of getting the dent out. Apparently it worked occasionally.

As an aside, one of the cogwheel mace heads at the museum even had a spoke shaped into an axe blade. As I recall, they also had stone cogwheel heads on display. Stone or metal, it's a good design.

Best,

F

lemmythesmith · 26th October 2008, 07:20 PM

Hi all, here's a good site with lots of good photos of pre-columbian wepons, the mace section has all kinds, including the devastating mace/axe that Fearn mentioned.

http://www.precolumbianweapons.com/

Jim McDougall · 26th October 2008, 07:53 PM

Thank you very much Fearn and Lemmy! Great information and resources. This whole topic is pretty much new to me, and really adds new dimension in understanding weapons of relatively much more recent times. I thought I might have seen those cog wheel forms before, but thought it was in something from India or Asia.

It always makes me wonder, why would these mace heads, intended for blunt force attack, have these crenallated edges on a disc? Having seen these outside this context, they almost seem like some ancient machinery (ala Indiana Jones

, so why wouldn't they, as maces, just been left smooth?

The material on trepanning is really interesting Fearn. It seems amazing that in these primitive times such 'advanced' (or perhaps daring) surgery was even attempted, and even more so that the patients often survived. I really do appreciate the great information you always find.

All very best regards,
Jim

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26th October 2008, 05:42 PM	#1
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi Jim, Always glad to do research for you. I don't have a collection like Lemmy's, but at the Museum of Man in San Diego, they've got an interesting exhibit that shows all phases of Andean trepanation, including the skulls. They show trepanned skulls and some stone blades they believe were used in trepanation. They also show skulls from people killed by cogwheel maces, and some of the mace heads, such as Lemmy has. The wounds in the skulls matched the shapes of the cog points. So, yes, those cogwheel maces were used in battle. Trepanning (cutting a hole in the skull) looks like it was used as a way to repair the damage from a mace blow (among other things). The surgeon would cut around the impacted area and remove them the bone fragments, basically as a way of getting the dent out. Apparently it worked occasionally. As an aside, one of the cogwheel mace heads at the museum even had a spoke shaped into an axe blade. As I recall, they also had stone cogwheel heads on display. Stone or metal, it's a good design. Best, F

26th October 2008, 07:20 PM	#2
lemmythesmith Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 93	Hi all, here's a good site with lots of good photos of pre-columbian wepons, the mace section has all kinds, including the devastating mace/axe that Fearn mentioned. http://www.precolumbianweapons.com/

26th October 2008, 07:53 PM	#3
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,461	Thank you very much Fearn and Lemmy! Great information and resources. This whole topic is pretty much new to me, and really adds new dimension in understanding weapons of relatively much more recent times. I thought I might have seen those cog wheel forms before, but thought it was in something from India or Asia. It always makes me wonder, why would these mace heads, intended for blunt force attack, have these crenallated edges on a disc? Having seen these outside this context, they almost seem like some ancient machinery (ala Indiana Jones , so why wouldn't they, as maces, just been left smooth? The material on trepanning is really interesting Fearn. It seems amazing that in these primitive times such 'advanced' (or perhaps daring) surgery was even attempted, and even more so that the patients often survived. I really do appreciate the great information you always find. All very best regards, Jim