[Aztlan] Bows and Arrows--When introduced and where one can find plenty of indigenous illustrations

[Jerry Offner]

I think this thread's original question regarding bows and arrows was:

"when the inhabitants of mesoamerica and specially Guatemala started the use of the arrow...?"

which led to Justin Kerr's question:

"If anyone has any images of the use of the "bow and arrow" in Mesoamerica, I would be happy to know about them."

The ensuing replies, with the exception of John Schwaller's and a very few others, show that Aztlan, the list, has truly become the land of the Maya.  Theirs is truly the popular culture from Mesoamerica these days.  

The written document Anales de Cuauhtitlan, based on pictorial materials, mentions arrow sacrifice, as practiced by the  female Ixcuinanme from Cuextlan (in general terms the "Huasteca") This is part of the collapse sequence of "Tollan"--in this case very likely Tula, Hidalgo.  (H.B. Nicholson's impetus to understand this part of Mesoamerican history as history will continue long after his recent death).  Arrow sacrifice is portrayed in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca from Puebla.  This document is otherwise filled with bows and arrows in use or simply being carried.  The time period portrayed by the 16th century indigenous scribes is after the Toltec collapse.  Similarly, bows and arrows can be found in the Codex Xolotl, along with an assortment of several other weapons and their progression through a relatively brief period of post-Toltec time.  Bows and arrows are also carried by certain people in the Codex de Xicotepec. The time period portrayed in that 16th century document begins almost certainly considerably more than 104 years before the conquest.  Hunting scenes with bows and arrows from a similar time period can be found in the Mappe Quinatzin, and bows and arrows are also found in the opening scene of the Mappe Tlotzin.  I am sure that others not so concentrated on Texococan affairs can point out other "Aztec" examples.  

John Schwaller's key observation on bows and arrows being associated with barbarism, not meant "ex cathedra" as it was unjustly criticized, is simply well known in the field.  Among the ancient Greeks (e.g. the Iliad), occasional harsh feelings against cowardly archers surface--they can be slight and small men hiding behind the shields of great warriors to bring down great men (e.g. later Achilles).  Yet, the god Apollo was an archer. The apparent lack of portayals of archers in Mesoamerican sculpture and relief is something I had never considered and is certainly worth contemplating.  Greeks, Romans, Persians and many others in the Old World employed massed archers to great effect --the Parthian king Ordoes II's devastating defeat of Crassus, the English victory at Agincourt, etc.  What says Ross Hassig on the subject of bows and arrows in Aztec Warfare?  What do the Oaxacan and Mixtec pictorial afficianados have to say for their area?

Way up north from Guatemala, all I can say is that indigenous scribes report that arrow sacrifice appeared before the fall of "Tollan" and that bows and arrows are key weapons in the decapitation (sometimes literally) of indigenous leadership after that time, beginning form the northern frontiers and working southward into Mesoamerica. It also appears, subject to correction, that bows and arrows remained a low prestige weapon, perhaps not much used as part of military tactics in the period just prior to the Conquest by the "Aztecs"--although this seems very odd and somehow must be wrong--it is just not a topic of my list to research.  This raises some fascinating questions about apparent conservatism in Mesoamerican interstate warfare methods and the cultural, historical and economic forces behind them.  

Hope this helps answer the two early questions in this interesting thread. And, as always, if the Classic Maya are not recording bows and arrows in stone, perhaps the works at (most likely Nahua) El Baul and Cotzumalhuapa in Guatemala do, although again I don't recall any--a good part of these pieces are available on the FAMSI website for inspection by interested parties.  .     


Jerry Offner
ixtlil at earthlink.net