PAGE 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
AZTEC BIFACES
AZTEC CULTURE
MEXICO
A.D. 1175 TO 1521
PAGE 2 OF 4 PAGES
COPYRIGHT NOVEMBER 3O, 2003 PETER A. BOSTROM

COMPUTER GENERATED TEETH & EYES
"PERSONIFIED" AZTEC BIFACES
KNOWN AS TECPATL CEREMONIAL KNIVES AND AZTEC SACRIFICIAL KNIVES
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
 PRIVATE COLLECTION

    The capital of the Aztec empire, called Tenochtitlan, was located where Mexico City is today and was one of the largest cities in the Americas. It was a magnificent city of temples and pyramids that were constructed of stone. The site was actually built in the center of lake Texcoco on islands connected to the mainland by three causeways. The Spanish called the city "The Venice of the New World". But soon after the invasion the city was torn to the ground. The stones were used to build a palace and the Great Cathedral of Mexico City. The Cathedral was built near where the Great Temple of the Aztec once stood.

"Personified" Aztec bifaces.
COMPUTER GENERATED TEETH & EYES
"PERSONIFIED" AZTEC BIFACES
KNOWN AS TECPATL CEREMONIAL KNIVES AND AZTEC SACRIFICIAL KNIVES
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
 PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This Aztec biface has been "dressed" with computer drawn teeth and eyes to simulate the "personified bifaces" discovered during the excavation of the Great Aztec Temple (axis mundi, the navel of the Aztec universe) in Mexico city. These "personified bifaces"  are known as Tecpatl ceremonial knives and represent one of the 20 days in the Aztec ritual calendar. They are also referred to as Aztec sacrificial knives. These knives have teeth made of shell and eyes made of shell with either obsidian or hematite pupils. Sometimes eyebrows made with small pieces of turquoise are also added. These peculiar looking knife blades were also painted with different designs and the bases were set in round pieces of copal. Published examples of Tecpatl ceremonial knives range in size from 3 15/16 inches (10 cm)  to 11 inches (27.9 cm) long.

    The Great Temple of the Aztec was rediscovered in 1978 by workers from the Electric Light Company who were digging in the very heart of Mexico City. They discovered a large carved stone several feet across with a carved relief of a dismembered Aztec god who had been killed by her brother, another Aztec god. The Aztecs were a warring people who fought constant battles with neighboring groups. Their main weapons were clubs with sharp stone blades imbedded in them, bows and arrows and spears.

Aztec biface.
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE TRIPLE IMAGE
AZTEC BIFACE
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This Aztec biface is another "classic" example and is very well made. Many of the larger bifaces, like this one, were made of a high quality semi-translucent amber colored stone with a high silica content. This type of stone was found in tabular form because some of the outer cortex still remains on one or both sides of several examples of these bifaces. This biface has small patches of the outer cortex on both sides. It measures 9 3/4 inches (24.7 cm) long and 3 3/16 inches (8.1 cm) wide.
   This biface was illustrated in 1973 in the "Central States Archaeological Journal", Vol. 20, April, no. 2 issue on page 64. It was used in an article by Gregory Perino called "Artifacts Made From Tabular Flint".

    The Aztec craftsmen who specialized in stone tool making produced some of the largest and most finely crafted bifaces in the ancient world. The archaeological record shows that the majority of them were being used in ceremonial applications. In fact, they were used in the most bizarre ways, at least by modern standards and were definitely not intended for domestic use.


CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE  IMAGE OF EDGE
PERCUSSION AND PRESSURE FLAKING
ON THE EDGE OF AN AZTEC BIFACE
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This picture shows a magnified view of the flaking pattern on the edge of this double notched Aztec biface. It shows five large flakes that were very uniformly removed by percussion flaking. These flakes were probably removed by striking the edge with a tool called a billet. The fine flakes that were removed directly on the edge were done by pressure flaking. Pressure flakes are pushed off with a tool called a pressure flaker. Both the billet (hammer) and the pressure flaker may have been made out of antler. These Aztec flint smiths were making some of the largest and most skillfully flaked bifaces in the world at that time.

    Archaeologists describe any large oval or leaf shaped bifacially flaked stone artifact as a biface. Some people also call them blades but the proper scientific term is biface.

Large double notched Aztec biface.
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE TRIPLE IMAGE
AZTEC BIFACE
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This Aztec biface is double-notched near the base. Whether this was an artistic addition by the knapper or something that was actually used to haft the knife onto a handle would be difficult to say. This large knife is very heavily patinated, which is evident by the much lighter color on one side. This biface was made with very uniform and skillfully done percussion flaking. It is widest near the point and the edges taper to a pointed base. It was made from a semi-translucent amber colored chert that has light colored inclusions. This large biface measures 12 inches (30.5 cm) long and 3 inches (7.6 cm) wide.

   A biface is a stone artifact that is flaked on two sides. Flakes may be removed by using one of three different flintknapping techniques. They can be removed by direct percussion flaking, by indirect percussion flaking and by pressure flaking.

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"REFERENCES"

1973, Perino, Gregory, "Artifacts Made From Tabular Flint", Central State Archaeological Journal, April #2, pp. 60-65.
1981, Stuart, Gene S., "The Mighty Aztecs", p. 32.
1988, Tattersall, Ian, Eric Delson & John Van Couvering, "Encyclopedia of Human Evolution & Prehistory", pp.91 and 532-533.
1989, Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos, "The Aztecs" The Aztecs' Conception of the Cosmos pp. 116-121, Art pp. 164-169, The Resurrection of the Gods pp.196-190.
1990, Moctezuma, Eduardo Matos, "Treasures of the Great Temple", War and Death pp. 78 & 79.
Personal communications with Tom Hester.
1994, Whittaker, John C., "Flintknapping", Terminations, pp. 106-109.
1999, Patten, Bob, "Old Tools--New Eyes", p. 109.

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