Rhydderch Hael
The Radiation King
Registered: Oct 2001
Location: On station at a distant underground nuclear missile silo...
Posts: 1816 |
quote:
Originally posted by DeeMarie
...They had systems for arithmatic and writing, but were basically a stone age people, using flint and obsidian tools. ...
That goes without saying. All of Pre-Columbian American civilizations did not use metal for utlitarian purposes. The only Native American cultures that had any experience with metal were the Dene Indians up north in Northern Canada, and they used copper. The use of iron was never present in the Americas until the Europeans came by. Cutting tools were of chipped stone and obsidian, and the only metalwork was that of gold and silver.
The Aztecs, however, while not capable of making steel or iron, did have swords for the warriors. The macuahuitl is a two-handed sword of wood fitted with a slotted edge that accepted the insertion of obsidian chips to act as the cutting edge. The very fact that the Aztec warriors had this sword, and that their opposing tribes did not, is what allowed the Aztecs to conquer neighboring peoples and become the predominant empire in the Americas. That is, until the Spaniards came with swords of their own, this time manufactured out of steel.
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11-12-2001 02:45 PM
(especially that ending).. do continue..or has it reached its conclusion..sigh
