He handed it over. She leaned over his page and made a rough drawing of amacuahuitl. “I’m no artist, but this should giveyou some idea.”
“Hmm. Reminds me of a cricket bat with razor blades.”
She handed him the pencil. “They were mostly used in close combat.”
“Was it used like a bat or a sword?”
“Both. While they could use it to slice an opponent, similar to a sword, the end was blunt and could be jammed into the enemy with a force that could break rib bones or crush a throat.”
“Nice, a multi-use weapon.”
“Exactly. Some believe that the warriors preferred this weapon because they could injure their enemy, rendering them immobile, but leave them alive to be sacrificed later to Buluc Chabtan.”
His hazel eyes met hers. One dark eyebrow crept upward. “With a name like Buluc, I’m guessing he wasn’t the god of cute puppies and kittens.”
She grinned. “Buluc Chabtan also known as God F, the ancient Maya deity of war, sudden death, and violence.” She fanned her shirt. “Oh, and gambling, too.”
“Gambling is up there with death and violence? Huh. So, let me get this straight. A warrior would severely maim their enemy with this razor-studded cricket bat and then offer the poor sucker up to the god of war?”
She nodded. “Better him to be sacrificed than you.”
“Damn, it was hard to be a Maya hero.” Quint wrote in hisnotebook for a few seconds while she continued to fan her shirt.
“You know, boss lady, I may complain now and then, but I’m glad to be here now, sweating my ass off while beating back bugs and an occasional snake.”
“Are you really, though?” she teased.
“Hell, yes.” He looked up at her. “Better this than living back when someone was always wanting to stab me, stick me, or yank out my heart while I was still alive, and then offer it to some invisible deity who probably wouldn’t appreciate the beating organ as much as I had.”
She chuckled. “The indoor plumbing we have these days is more preferable, too.”
“It is nice to shower without worrying about stepping on a scorpion or centipede.”
A lizard darted over the rubble near her boots, racing from one shady crack to the next. “Or a lizard,” she added. “Initially, scholars thought that themacuahuitlwas an Aztec weapon, but there are carvings of it in Chichen Itza that are believed to pre-date the Aztec empire. So, the vote is still out on what civilization came up with it.”
He shoulder bumped her. “What do you think?”
“I’m no expert in ancient weapons, but there is plenty of evidence that people take ideas from civilizations that came before them. Unfortunately, there haven’t been anymacuahuitlfound intact due to them being made of wood. There are only drawings and carvings that remain, many of which are linked to the Aztec. But the carving showing up at Chichen Itza does make me wonder if this weapon came from a different civilization all together. One that precedes both the Aztec and Maya.”
“Like the Olmec?”
“Maybe. We know from several excavated and studied sites that the Olmec got around. They didn’t just sit in one area, sowing crops and keeping track of the moon’s whereabouts in the sky, so there is plenty of reason to suspect themacuahuitlhas been around for a very, very long time.”
“But you said the name is from the Aztec language.”
“Right, it’s Nahuatl, which was spoken in south-central Mexico, especially by the Aztec. Keep in mind that much of the history and words we know now have come down through Spanish monks andscribes traveling with the conquistadors.”
“And what does that mean to you in this case?”
“How can we know what is Olmec or what is from even before their time?” A drop of sweat trickled and tickled down her spine. She fanned her shirt at her back. “If only I could time travel to find out how the civilizations unfolded.”
Angélica had heard her mother make a similar wish many times over the years while she was trying to find answers amongst the ancient works and derelict sites beaten down by time. A window to the past was an archaeologist’s dream.
“If you figure out how to time travel,” Quint said, “I’m coming with you.”
“You’d leave modern plumbing behind for me?”
He looked her over, south to her boots and then back up to her eyes. “Sure. You’d look fantastic in a loincloth. Maybe we should roleplay Tarzan and Jane when we get home.”
