Tlaxich (MH506v)
This black-line drawing of the point of a crossbow arrow or spear point (tlaxichtli), attested here as a man's name ("Tlaxich"), shows a profile view of a jagged point facing downward. The point has three barbs, all on one side.
Stephanie Wood
For another example of the tlaxichtli with the jagged point, see below. That one does not have any color, and it is pointed downward. Crossbows were introduced into Mesoamerica by Europeans. Some of them fell into Native hands during battles, along with swords, harquebuses, cannon, metal armor, etc. But even when these weapons were not captured and turned on the invaders, the Nahuas were interested in learning about them and the technology they represented. Still, this could be simply another Indigenous type of arrow or spear. The mitl, for example, is a common one. The label of "crossbow arrow" comes from the translation by Alonso de Molina, so further research may be required to be sure that he was correct.
The contextualizing image shows lines on the man's face. Are these lines of concern or perhaps the face paint/tattoos of a warrior?
Stephanie Wood
pedro
tlaxich
Pedro Tlaxich
Stephanie Wood
1560
Jeff Haskett-Wood
flechas, pasadores, passador, ballestas, guerra, warfare, crowsbows, arrows, proyetiles, tlaxichtli, nombres de hombres
tlaxich(tli), crossbow arrow, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tlaxichtli
posiblemente, Flecha de Ballesta o Passador de Ballesta
Alonso de Molina
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 506v, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=92&st=image
This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).
