Tools and ornaments of a South American hunter.
The Maya of Central America created one of the greatest civilizations in the Americas. An agricultural people, they were able to support cities by farming outlying areas. Mayan farmers cleared acres of forests by cutting down the native vegetation, allowing it to dry, and burning it. They use the ash as a fertilizer. In addition to the large fields that were cultivated, Mayan citizens kept gardens near their homes.
In the southern area of the Mayan world (in present-day Guatemala and Honduras), farmers had the opposite problem of farmers in the Southwest: too much rain. In some cases, Mayan farmers had to dig drainage canals to prevent their crops from being flooded.
Although the Mayans used metals, they did not use them for tools. They considered the metals too precious for anything but ceremony and decoration. Chisels, manos, metates, and bark beaters were made out of stone. A bark beater was a pounding tool used to soften bark. Bark fiber softened in this way was turned into paper for Mayan books.
Some of the finest tools were made from jade. Because jade is so hard, it is difficult to shape. Jade was cut by repeatedly rubbing cords across the spot that needed cutting. The cords would be wet with abrasives, such as sand. The constant rubbing eventually ground the jade down.
Mayan weavers used a variation on the loom called the belt loom. One end of it would be tied to a tree. The other end would be tied to the weaver’s belt. The weaver could lean in to the tree to loosen the warp and lean out to tighten it. Baskets and sleeping mats were common woven items in Mayan households.
Mayans fished with bone fishhooks and nets weighed down with fired clay. They used dugouts to travel the waterways. Mayans hunted with bows, spears, and traps. They hunted deer, monkeys, tapir, birds, and rabbits. Snares were used for hunting deer.
In the 12th and 14th centuries, two great empires were founded in Central and South America. First, the Inca Empire grew in the Andes Mountains. Different provinces of the Inca Empire specialized in different weapons. Soldiers from these areas used their own weapons as well as the equipment the Incas supplied them with.
In the forests, the Antisuyus used bows and arrows. The tribes along the Ecuadorian coast preferred spears and darts. Men from the Colla province were experts with bolas. A bola consisted of three stones tied to cords, which were then tied together. Soldiers threw them at their opponents’ feet. The stones and cords would loop around legs, tripping people. They were also useful at snaring a deer’s legs on a hunt.
Tools and ornaments of a South American hunter.
The Incas provided all the tribes under their control with slings, called huaracas. When not being used, the slings could be tied around soldiers’ waists like belts. The Incas also provided their army with spears and war clubs.
One example of an Incan war club is the star-headed mace. This was a composite club with a circular head made of stone or metal. There were six nubs sticking out of it, making the head look like a star.
Incas also used battle-axes with stone and bronze heads. Their spears had metal tips or wooden points hardened by fire. In later years, Incas used spears mostly for rituals.
When the Incas went to war, not everyone on the field was a soldier. The Incan army brought along a band, which played war songs full of boasting and insults to their enemy. Musicians played flutes made of bone, trumpets made of clay and shells, and tambourines made from the skins of their enemies.
Battles would begin with soldiers using their slings at long range. As the armies closed in, archers shot arrows at each other. Finally, clubs and spears were used in hand-to-hand combat. Shields were used for defense.
In the 14th century, the Aztec Empire began in central Mexico. The Aztecs used similar weapons, with a few variations. Aztecs used bows and cotton slings for their long-range attacks. The slings threw egg-sized stones. Aztec bows were around five feet long. The arrows were tipped with bone or obsidian (volcanic glass) or were simply fire-hardened.
Aztecs also used the javelin, a type of spear. To throw their javelins farther, the Aztecs used a tool called an atlatl. It was a stick around two feet long with a peg at one end to hold the spear in place. On the other end was a handle made from shells. A soldier would hold it and swing his arm back to throw. The atlatl extended the length of the soldier’s arm, which made the spear fly farther.
Until European contact, metal wasn’t used in North America. Tools were made from stone, bone, or wood. When Europeans came, natives of both coasts saw the strength of metal and traded for metal of all kinds. Tools could be used immediately. Brass buttons could be remade into jewelry or other things.
In this way, metal took the place of many traditional stone tools. Stone axes and bone needles were replaced by metal versions. As metal cookware become more common, the demand for pottery shrank.
During this time, Native Americans also discovered the power of guns. Once this happened, the demand for metal went down. Guns and ammunition were their main demand when trading. Tribes cut their gun barrels short and used the extra iron to make metal tools. By the early 1800s, metal was found in many North American tools.
In Central and South America, things were different. Metal was common there, and metalworking was an art. Although the Maya used metals, they only rarely used them for tools. The most common metals in the area were gold, silver, and copper. They are soft metals that can’t take much punishment. As a result, metal was mostly used for religious items, such as bracelets, masks, and other ritual objects.
The Incas were quite knowledgeable about the properties of metals. They knew how the strength of bronze changed with the amount of tin it contained. Thus, their bronze tools were superior to the stone ones used before them.
The bola served as both a weapon of war and a hunting tool in parts of the Inca Empire. Here, South American cowboys of the 19th century use bolas to hunt a rhea, a flightless bird similar to the ostrich.
At close range, Aztecs would use a special two-handed sword called a macana. It was heavy and made of hard wood. The sides were edged with shards of obsidian. When broken, obsidian is extremely sharp. Spanish records say the macana was so sharp that it could be used to chop the head off a horse. These swords were very effective when they were first made. However, unlike metal, obsidian turns dull quickly. Thus, the swords needed to be resharpened regularly.
To protect themselves, Aztec warriors wore thick armor made of quilted cotton soaked in brine. The armor was effective, especially against spears and arrows. When the Spanish invaded, they began using the cotton armor as well. Their metal armor was too heavy and hot for the climate.
Soldiers also used small round shields strapped to their forearms. This kind of shield is called a buckler. They were between 20 and 30 inches wide and were made of wooden rods laced together with cotton. Fancier shields were decorated with gold or turquoise.
The Incas were more advanced farmers than the Aztecs. Aztecs used digging sticks, which were a combination of a spade and a hoe. The Incas used a foot plow called a taclla. It was a six-foot-long pole with a digging point. There was a footrest near the point and a handle on the top. Farmers bore down on the footrest with their weight to make digging easier.
Incan farmers also used handheld hoes called quranas. Quranas had a short shaft with a blade like a chisel. Some of these tools had wooden blades. The better-made ones used bronze. Incan farmers had a special tool to break up lumps of earth. They also used a boat-shaped board for scraping soil over planted seeds.
The Jivaro Indians of Ecuador used similar tools. Jivaro women planted and harvested. They grew bananas, peanuts, sugar cane, and manioc. They used sharp, pointed planting sticks and flat-bladed digging sticks. Men used machetes to clear an area for farming.
The Jivaro of South America hunted monkeys and birds with blowguns made from ivory nut palm leaves. By blowing into the tube, the hunter would propel a poison-tipped dart at his prey.
To round out their diet, the Jivaro hunted anaconda, toucans, monkeys, and armadillos. They used a double-edged dagger with a point at both ends and a handle in the center. To hunt birds and monkeys, they used blowguns. Jivaro blowguns are long tubes made from ivory nut palm leaves. They shoot light darts, propelled by a puff of breath. The darts are poisoned, usually with curare. Curare is a deadly muscle-relaxing poison made from tropical plants.
The Jivaro poison blowgun is one of the most extreme examples of ingenuity in Native American toolmaking. It makes a tube out of one plant and a dart from the stem of another, which is coated with a poison from a third plant. Native Americans have always found effective uses for their environment. Their tools and weapons are evidence that long before Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison, the Americas were home to brilliant inventors. §