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The Chīmalli (; "shield") was the traditional defensive armament of the indigenous states of Mesoamerica. These shields varied in design and purpose. The Chīmalli was also used while wearing special headgear.
The Chīmalli (; "shield") was the traditional defensive armament of the indigenous states of Mesoamerica. These shields varied in design and purpose. The Chīmalli was also used while wearing special headgear.
Construction
Chīmalli were constructed out of materials such as the skins of deer, ocelots, and rabbits, plants such as bamboo, agave, and cotton, precious metals such as gold, and feathers from local, remote, and migratory birds. A single shield could be covered with as many 26,400 feathers. Feathers for chīmalli were collected by bird breeders called amantecas, who hunted and raised several species of birds for the purpose of using their feathers for art. Being an amanteca was a family tradition, and one would teach the art to their progeny. The creation of chīmalli was also a community tradition, an art that involved amantecas, as well as goldsmiths, carpenters, and painters.Variations
The size of the shields varied. Some had normal (circular design) dimensions, others covered the whole body. There are reports of versions that could be folded. There were also ceremonial shields called "māhuizzoh chīmalli" (?).George Cameron Stone, Donald J. LaRocca, A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times, Verlag Courier Dover Publications, 1999, page 179,See also
*Aztec warfare
Aztec warfare concerns the aspects associated with the militaristic conventions, forces, weaponry and strategic expansions conducted by the Late Postclassic Aztec civilizations of Mesoamerica, including particularly the military history of the Az ...
*Armor
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
*Shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
References
Literature
* Frances Berdan, Patricia Rieff Anawalt, ''The Codex Mendoza'', Verlag University of California Press, 1992, page 6, * Justyna Olko, ''Turquoise diadems and staffs of the office: elite costume and insignia of power in Aztec and early colonial Mexico'', Verlag Polish Society for Latin American Studies and Centre for Studies on the Classical Tradition, University of Warsaw, 2005, page 229, {{DEFAULTSORT:Chimalli Aztec society Shields Mexican heraldry