itztli (Mdz42r)

The teeth imbedded in this blade make it somewhat reminiscent of the tecpatl (flint knife), which can have eyes and fangs, such as we see in the Codex Magliabechiano and the Codex Borbonicus. We learn from sources quoted in the Online Nahuatl Dictionary that these obsidian blades often had "faces" on them, what Guy Stresser-Péan (1995, 27) calls the "demon face " (see our Bibliography). Such faces typically have two horizontal rows of teeth and a white stone eye with a black pupil. Some had handles that were also anthropomorphic, kneeling figures pushing on the blade. See, for example, the "personified flint knife" photographed in a museum and published on Mexicolore. Sometimes the teeth were more fang-like, as seen in this pre-Columbian stone carving (on the right), reminiscent of Tlaloc's fangs, perhaps.

The name Itztli was associated with a divinity or deity connected to sacrificial offerings. Another common name for obsidian or flint blades or knives was tecpatl, which could also be personified with eyes and teeth. Additionally, tecpatl was a calendrical name, and we have many examples of it in this collection.

Finally, one will see a number of black, curved obsidian blades—also associated with the term itztli—in the "see also" field of this record. Curved prismatic blades were chipped from polyhedral cores, as described in Karl Taube's research published in Ancient Mesoamerica 2:1(1991). But blades could also be cut into shapes with a curve. The Maya were better known for extremely curvy blades. These are called "eccentric flint," as published in Wikipedia.