![]() ![]() The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Michael C. The chopping of chert blades against wood was equivalent to divine chops of thunder in the sky.įig. The power of flint blades was also associated with lightning the fractures of chert during percussion were likened to the unpredictable splitting of lightning in the sky (fig. 250–900) probably cleared tropical forests with chert blades. Lacking metal tools, the Classic Maya (ca. The crystalline quartz structure of sedimentary cherts allows them to be flaked into various sharp tools using percussion techniques. Early agriculturalists used chert and flint, which appear as nodules in the limestone geology of the Yucatán Peninsula. In Mesoamerica, centuries of co-opting agricultural power necessitated that symbolic blades form part of the ritual toolkits for societies such as the Olmec, the Maya, and the Aztec. until the arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century (fig. In the Central Andes, on the other hand, crescent-shaped blades, known as tumis, were intimately associated with themes of sacrifice that endured from the late first millennium B.C. In Mesoamerica, blades made of greenstone, including jadeite, were powerful symbols of power over maize agriculture, a key component of rulers' claims to political power. Later metal and flint blades of various forms were vital ceremonial objects used in ritual performance. ![]() The earliest examples, known as celts, are petaloid stone blades (which are shaped like a flower's petals) destined for sacred offerings. ![]() Bache, 1974, 1977 (1974.271.60)Īn astonishing array of blades from Peru to Mexico is on view through May 28 in the exhibition Golden Kingdoms: Luxury and Legacy in the Ancient Americas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift and Bequest of Alice K. A global look at ancient blades finds analogous cases, such as in ancient Egypt or China, where weapons were inscribed or ceremonial blades were fashioned from precious nephrites.Ībove: Fig. For more than three millennia, indigenous artists in the Western Hemisphere created blades that have been noted for their beauty by both ancient and modern beholders. By the second millennium B.C., however, ceremonial blades and bodily regalia made from blades became the media of choice for sculptors in the Americas, who created works of art that transcended the utilitarian or functional. Whether uniface (one sharp edge) or biface (two sharp edges), stone blades with beveled edges had the obvious primary function of cutting. Stone blades of various types and sizes were produced in the Americas as early as people arrived, including projectile points, hand axes, scrapers, chisels, and other tools. ![]()
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