CLASSIC MAYA WARFARE AND WEAPONS: Spear, dart, and arrow points of Aguateca and Copan

this article discusses spear, dart, and arrow points used by the Classic Maya elites at the rapidly abandoned fortified city of
Aguateca, Guatemala, and their temporal and spatial distribution patterns in and around Copan, Honduras. Both the royal family
and elite scribes/artists at Aguateca used spear and dart points for intergroup human conflict as well as for artistic and craft
production under enemy threat. An important implication is that the ruler and elite scribes/artists were also warriors. The unusually
high concentrations of identifiable weaponry at the Early Classic hilltop center of Cerro de las Mesas as well as the Acropolis and
other Late Classic locations in the Copan Valley, along with other lines of evidence, indicate that warfare was critical in the
development and downfall of Classic Maya civilization at Copan.
Kazuo Aoyama
2005
Aoyama K. Classic Maya Warfare and Weapons: Spear, dart, and arrow points of Aguateca and Copan. Ancient Mesoamerica. 2005;16(2):291-304. doi:10.1017/S0956536105050248