2008.34.2, .3, .6, three stone mace heads
Pre-conquest Ecuador (pre-A.D. 1530s)
Donated by Karl Schwerin
Photograph by B. Bernard
Mounted on a handle and swung by a warrior, mace heads such as these
could easily kill or maim. Blows to the skull were so common in
Andean warfare that precolumbian healers learned the
surgical art of trepanation (cutting away skull bone to relieve
hematomas). Many weapons could serve a dual purpose—for example,
arrows could be used to hunt game as well as in warfare—but
maces were useful only for war and indicate the existence
of formalized aggression and specialized aggressors.
The size of these stones gives some intidation of their potential. The light grey one is 11 cm (4.3 inches) across and weighs 474 grams (1.04 lb.). The smaller examples, from left to right, are both 8 cm (3.1 inches) across and weigh 203 grams (.51 lb.) and 210 grams (.46 lb.). Their density makes these weapons especially dangerous.
Even so, the human need for aesthetics is apparent, for example in the selection of a visually arresting stone (a porphyry) to create the mace head at the lower left of the photograph shown above. Below is an additional mace head that shows the same combination of beauty and deadly efficiency. It measures 9 centimeters (4 inches) across and weighs 416 grams (.92 lb.).
57.5.27, bronze mace head
Pre-conquest Peru (pre-A.D. 1530s)
Watt Stewart collection
Photograph by B. Bernard
We close this page with an object that may be a mace
head—if so, it doesn't show the usual points, which
served to concentrate the force of the blow. Instead it may
be a ceremonial object that has nothing to do with warfare.
Unfortunately, nothing we know about it provides firm evidence
as to its actual use. Part of the challenge of archaeology is
determining the use of objects, and in some cases it just isn't
possible (the original cataloguer settled for describing it
as a "stone donut"). It is the right size for a mace, at least,
measuring about 8 centimeters (3 inches) across and weighing 350 grams (.77 lb.).
57.5.18, stone, mace head?
Pre-conquest Peru (pre-A.D. 1530s)
Watt Stewart collection
Photograph by B. Bernard
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All content copyright © Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. A high-resolution verson of this photograph may be ordered from the Maxwell Museum's photo archives. Please make note of the catalogue number. For more information please visit the photo archives web page
Page last revised on Septemer 1, 2009. Please report problems to toh@unm.edu