Scott Brian, a graduate student of Archaeology at BYU, has made several reconstructions of a macahuitl (I’ve also seen this spelled macauhuitl or macuahuitl), the ancient Mesoamerican weapon that can be described as a wooden club with sharp obsidian blades. Another term that can be legitimately used is “sword” – a term the Spaniards used when they faced this fearsome weapon that could cut better than metal swords. (See my LDSFAQ page on metals and weapons in the Book of Mormon.) Thanks, Scott! Beautiful work.
Click to enlarge the photos. They are used here with permission, but may not be published in print without Scott’s written permission.
I’d love to buy one of these. Are they for sale?
I hope they’re functional – not that I need to smite my neighbors or anything, but it’s good to be prepared.
Hmm, there is a huge collectors market in various edged weapons. You might want to drop over to http://forums.swordforum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=1&forumid=41 to get an idea, but there is probably a market for functional swords of this type.
Agreed. Mr. Scott might have just found himself a lucrative sideline. Mormons and non-Mormons alike would be interested. I’d be interested.
-Adam Greenwood
it is easy to see why the lamanites weapons that were buried in the ground remained bright. i would consider thos beutifull weapons bright. If he has paterns and instruction on these i would love to have them. I want to make some myself.
I’ve been looking to buy a macuahuitl of my own for forever. I’ve done posts several times on Sword Forum International, but have never gotten a legit response.
I’m desperate to get one of these for myself, and love the ones Br. Scott made. If anyone knows of a way of getting on contact with him to see if he can be hired to create one, please let me know at sariah at sariahswilson dot com. Thanks!
Hi there, the first one looks nice but the bottom one looks horrid. Also where did you get that they cut better than steel swords? Sorry but that is simply not true.
They could cut but so can an axe.
Hi, I am Bill, I am mexican, and live in Mexico City. I have made a REAL macahuitl, with REAL Teotihuacan obsidian blades. It is the REAL THING. And yes, you can cut a horse head clean with a real macahuitl.
Contact me at
cuacuahtzin.macahuitl@gmail.com
Contact my bro Cesar, he can hook you up with your macahuilt needs, https://www.facebook.com/#!/legionnaire.archery?fref=ts
or try this place, http://cart.occpaleo.com/aztecmacuahuitlobsidiansword.aspx
How can I get a hold of Scott Brian? I work for Book of Mormon Central, and we would be interested in having his "swords" on display at our next conference in April if he is willing and still lives in the area.