Blinded by Obsidian - Aztecs

clipped from www.uh.edu One question that torments historians of technology is the "Why didn't?" question. So: why didn't the Aztecs ever emerge from the stone age? Why did such a remarkably advanced people make such limited use of metal? Anthropologist Terry Stocker offers a troubling answer. When you already have a fine technology, you don't see beyond it. And the Aztecs had obsidian for their axes and knives. Obsidian is a naturally-occurring glass, usually black and opaque. It's harder than steel, and it fractures smoothly. By splitting it, you can create murderously sharp blades. Southern Mexico was richly endowed with obsidian. Anthropologists now think the huge and mysterious pre-Aztec city of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, was the center of an obsidian industry. So obsidian became woven into Aztec worship as well as Aztec function. What need could there be for a replacement material? The Aztecs didn't develop their use of metal because they couldn't see beyond obsidian. clipped from www.precolumbianjade.com