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

   "Flint knife" day in the Aztec ritual calendar is associated with the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca. Tezcatlipoca represents the dark side of existence and presides over the north sector of the universe in a place called Mictlan or Mictlampa where fleshless skeletal beings reside in a place of the dead. People who died natural deaths would go there after passing through 9 unpleasant places, such as, the place where the hearts of the dead are eaten, the place where people are shot down with multitudes of arrows, the place of the obsidian-sharp winds, etc., etc.


CLICK ON PICTURE FOR LARGE  IMAGE
AZTEC BIFACES
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

    This picture shows a group of seven Aztec bifaces. They range in size from 7 3/8 inches (18.6 cm) long for the smallest white example at top center to 24 1/4 inches (61.5 cm) long for the longest example in the center. The largest bifaces in this picture represent above average sizes for these ceremonial knives. Most Aztec bifaces are probably under 11 inches (28 cm) long.

   Tezcatlipoca, who represented "flint knife" day, was one of the most powerful and influential Aztec gods and was also the god of temptation. He was associated with annihilation that can bring rebirth. He wears a tiger skin (ocelot) and an obsidian blade which represents the cold, black, biting winds of the north. Tezcatlipoca literally means smoking mirror. He is shown wearing a smoking obsidian mirror on his head and one in the place of one of his feet. This peculiar weapon gave off smoke that killed his enemies.


AZTEC BIFACES INSERTED IN A SKULL MASK
FROM EXAMPLES--TEMPLO MAYOR, TENOCHTITLAN
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
15TH CENTURY A.D. (1400'S)

   This illustration is an attempt to show an example of a skull mask like those found at Templo Mayo in Mexico City. They are related to the Aztec biface phenomenon because these same types of ceremonial knives are found in direct contact with them.  One biface was placed in the mouth and another in the nasal cavity. No one knows exactly how these bizarrely decorated skulls were used. But it is speculated that they may have been worn in ceremonies on top of the head. Perforations along the top of the skulls may have held some type of decorations. The eyes were inlayed with shell discs with hematite pupils in the center. Eduardo Moctectezuma writes in "Treasures of the Great Temple" that "The grisly life imparted by their shell and pyrite eyes succeeds in giving them a particularly terrifying aspect".
   The "flint knife" glyph in the center represents one of the 20 days in the Aztec ritual calendar. These "flint knife" glyphs are represented by bifaces exactly like some of the examples illustrated in this article.

   Aztec bifaces are directly connected with those illustrated in the codices and stone engravings and were involved in complex Aztec religions mythology. Several "personified" examples of bifaces were found during the excavation of the Great Temple in Mexico city. They were made of the same materials and are the same shape as the examples illustrated in this article, although most of these are larger in size. They were inlayed with shell, turquoise, hematite & obsidian and even painted in various designs. Those "personified bifaces" were made to look like the same ones that are engraved in stone and drawn in the old Aztec manuscripts.

A large Aztec biface.
AZTEC BIFACE
MEXICO
 LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
 A.D. 1175 TO 1521
PRIVATE COLLECTION

   This very large Aztec biface is the third largest out of the seven examples that are illustrated in this article. A small patch of the outer cortex is still attached in the center on one side. This biface is made of semi-translucent amber colored chert and measures 14 1/16 inches (35.6 cm) long and 3 9/16 inches (9 cm) wide.

    Aztec bifaces have no competition when it comes to a mythological background, cultural drama and skilled craftsmanship. They represent some of the most skillfully flaked and artistically personified, stone bifaces ever manufactured within any Stone Age culture in the world.

"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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