Mayan Weapons Essay

The technology and intellectual accomplishments made by the Mesoamerican peoples have given the modern world tools and clothing, education, architectural information, and recording strategies. Tools and clothing are a major necessity of everyday life. (1)Francisco Hernandez, a Spanish naturalist, wrote in his notes about the Maguey plant and its many uses. Tools such as nails and tacks were made from the thorns of the Maguey plant. The leaves of the plants were used to make garments, thread for footwear, and cloth for the production of clothing. (2) Another form of tools were made for battle by the Mayans. These tools included bows, arrows, body armor, lances, and axes. Tools such as these helped the Mayans to ward off enemies and defend their peoples. In today’s time, bows and arrows can be used to hunt, and axes can be used for working purposes. Breastplates that were used for body armor inspire modern day armor used by the military. (3) Some lesser used battle weapons, or tools, that were used were blowguns, hand swords, and spears. Though these weapons are not typically used in battle – to my knowledge – the darts that were made for blowguns can be used in automatic dart guns, and swords and spears have been

(6) Scribes form the Mesoamerican peoples would record information form the years passed in order of the day, the month, and the hour so citizens would know what had happened in the past. Deaths and births were recorded so that the population of the area was known. Priests would record the information about the temples and the images that they saw. We now record information about the past in books and novels, and a population count is done every ten years so that the current population is know to the peoples. Religious information has been recorded for years, but we still use the information that has been provided for us. Town records are similar to the written Mayan