"of even small crystals after extrusion, the resulting rock may be mostly glass (such as the rock obsidian). If the cooling of the lava happened more slowly, the rock would be coarse-grained. Because the minerals are mostly fine-grained, it is much more difficult to distinguish between the different types of extrusive igneous rocks than between different types of intrusive igneous rocks. Generally, the mineral constituents of fine-grained extrusive igneous rocks can only be determined by examination of thin sections of the rock under a microscope, so only an approximate classification can usually be made in the field. Igneous rocks are"
"at least eight bronze light cannons (known as ""esmiriles""). The Spanish described the weapons of war of the Petén Maya as bows and arrows, fire-sharpened poles, flint-headed spears and two-handed swords known as ""hadzab"" that were crafted from strong wood with the blade fashioned from inset obsidian; these were similar to the Aztec ""macuahuitl"". They had a thin, wide wooden shaft with obsidian or flint blades set into channels in the wood. The shaft was up to long and was crafted from the hard, dark wood of a flowering tree (""Apoplanesia paniculata"") called ""chulul"" by the Maya. The bows used"
"American explorer of the Yucatan, Edward Herbert Thompson found (ca.1900) ""shallow quarries near Chichen Itza with worked veins of ""sascab""..."" Sascab Sascab is a naturally occurring mineral material described variously as ""decomposed limestone"", ""breccia"", and ""the lime gravel mixture the Maya used as mortar."" It has been used as a building and paving material in Mesoamerica since antiquity. In the context of pottery the term may also apply to mixtures (with clay and water) of a more finely divided form of the same material (described as ""stone dust""). It was used by the ancient Maya in place of (or as"
"Cult of the Cenote The Cult of the Cenote was a legendary tradition by the Mayan particularly under the rulership of the Mayapan in the Yucatán Peninsula.The tradition includes throwing selected people in the city's cenote as a human sacrifice as well as precious stones like gold, jade and other ornaments for the rain god, Chaac.The Sacred Cenote is surrounded by ancient Mayan ruins known as the Chichen Itza which translates into the ""mouth of the well in Itza"". The ceremonies conducted in the Sacred Cenote were expected by the people to produce rain. One account in 1579, a ritual"
"the Sierra de las Navajas (Razor Mountains), named after their obsidian deposits. Use of the maquahuitl as a weapon is attested from the 1st milleniaCE. A Mayan carving at Chichen Itza shows a warrior holding a macuahuitl, depicted as a club having separate blades sticking out from each side. In a mural, a warrior holds a club with many blades on one side and one sharp point on the other, also a possible variant of the macuahuitl. By the time of the Spanish conquest the macuahuitl was widely distributed in Mesoamerica, with records of its use by the Aztecs, Mixtecs,"
"and Tikal. Though Limestone was the most important material they still collected sandstone from Quiriguá and volcanic tuff from Copan. The Mayan people had taken advantage of mortar on most structural projects. The Mayans used a very difficult process of limestone under large amounts of heat to create their mortar. The mortar was so widely used, the Mayans even used it for sculptures, facades, and floor layers. Their mortar was very effective on a large building lifetime, but humid climates can have a negative effect on the mortar. For more important construction projects the Mayans would cover the entire structures"
"Takalik Abaj indicates that the majority originated from the El Chayal and San Martín Jilotepeque sources in the Guatemalan highlands. Lesser quantities of obsidian originated from other sources such as Tajumulco, Ixtepeque and Pachuca. Obsidian is a natural volcanic glass that was used across Mesoamerica to make durable tools and weapons including knives, spearheads, arrowheads, bloodletters for ritual autosacrifice, prismatic blades for woodwork and many other day-to-day tools. The use of obsidian by the Maya has been likened to steel use in the modern world and it was widely traded throughout the Maya region and beyond. The proportion of obsidian"
"captives and plunder. The Spanish described the weapons of war of the Petén Maya as bows and arrows, fire-sharpened poles, flint-headed spears and two-handed swords crafted from strong wood with the blade fashioned from inset obsidian, similar to the Aztec ""macuahuitl"". Pedro de Alvarado described how the Xinca of the Pacific coast attacked the Spanish with spears, stakes and poisoned arrows. Maya warriors wore body armour in the form of quilted cotton that had been soaked in salt water to toughen it; the resulting armour compared favourably to the steel armour worn by the Spanish. The Maya had historically employed"
"reference to iron oxide. Warriors in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica are known to have used wooden clubs with blade-like obsidian flakes; as a volcanic glass, obsidian does not rust. Some studies have shown that metallurgy did exist in a primitive state in Mesoamerica during the Preclassic/Formative and Classic periods (which corresponds to the time period in the Book of Mormon). These metals include brass, iron ore, copper, silver, and gold. However, the metals were never used to make swords: Even though ancient Andean people smelted some metals, such as copper, they never smelted iron like they did in the Old World ..."
"had to locate the proper resources for clay and temper. The present-day indigenous Maya, who currently live in Guatemala, Belize and southern Mexico still create wonderful ceramics. Prudence M. Rice provides a look at what the current Guatemalan Maya use today for clay. Highland Guatemala has a rich geological history comprised mainly from a volcanic past. The metamorphic and igneous rock, as well as the sand and ash from the pumice areas provide many types of tempering. In the area, there are a range of clays that create varied colors and strengths when fired. Today's Maya locate their clays in"
"by lava flows which solidified into basalt. Over time the softer sedimentary rock surrounding the basalt eroded leaving several distinct large elevated tablelands with precipitous sides which include the Mesa de Maya. Mesa de Maya originated from a balsaltic lava flow 180 million years ago. Originating in Colorado at a place named Piney Mountain, the lava flow measures 55 miles long, from one-half (1 km) to wide, and thick. The uneroded portion of the lava flow consists today of the Mesa de Maya and Black Mesa. Mesa de Maya's westernmost extension is 11 miles northeast of Branson, Colorado in Las"
"by the Maya were described as almost as high as a man and were made from the same ""chulul"" wood as the ""hadzab"", with the bowstring fashioned from henequen fibre; the bow was called a ""chuhul"". Arrows were made from reeds with flint, bone or fishtooth arrowheads and flights crafted from feathers. In hand-to-hand combat the Maya used daggers with obsidian or flint blades set into a ""chulul""-wood handle, they were about long. Maya spears were referred to as ""nabte""; sometimes the tip was fire-hardened, sometimes they were set with a stone blade. Spears were mainly used to thrust and"
"into the cenote three months earlier. Cult of the Cenote The Cult of the Cenote was a legendary tradition by the Mayan particularly under the rulership of the Mayapan in the Yucatán Peninsula.The tradition includes throwing selected people in the city's cenote as a human sacrifice as well as precious stones like gold, jade and other ornaments for the rain god, Chaac.The Sacred Cenote is surrounded by ancient Mayan ruins known as the Chichen Itza which translates into the ""mouth of the well in Itza"". The ceremonies conducted in the Sacred Cenote were expected by the people to produce rain."
"names. The Black Mountains are composed almost exclusively of rocks assigned to the Old Red Sandstone and dating from the Devonian period. This thick sedimentary sequence comprises sandstones, mudstones, siltstones and numerous thin limestones. The exception is the summit area of Pen Cerrig-calch where a thin sequence of Carboniferous rocks occur, an outlier of the more extensive outcrop to the south of the Usk valley. The lower slopes of these hills are formed from the mudstone-rich St Maughans beds at the top of which lies a calcrete - a discontinuous limestone band known as the Ffynnon Limestone. Above this are"
"wore armor, consisting of short cotton jackets packed with rock salt—the equivalent of the modern ""flack jacket"" and tight bindings of leather or cloth on forearms and legs. Cotton armor is so much more effective than any other protection. Three major sources of Salt have been identified for the Petén Lowlands Maya sites, the Pacific Lowlands, the Caribbean coast and the Salinas de los Nueve Cerros in the Chixoy river in the Highlands of Alta Verapaz in Guatemala, where the salt is obtained from a brine springs that flows from a Salt dome, curiously its color is black, this site"
"the essential resource obsidian, a beautiful volcanic glass that easily fractured into sharp edges, providing arrowheads, knives, and other weapons as well as prestige goods like mirrors. Although it is difficult to firmly identify the ethnicity of a people from meager archeological remains, it appears that during this period the Maya began a systematic northward expansion, occupying the Petén Basin where such cities as El Mirador, Tikal, Calakmul, and Tayasal would be built. The dominant site of these early colonists was Nakbe in the El Mirador basin, where the first attested Maya ballcourt and sacbeob (stone causeways) were built. The"
"the water along with small waterfalls. There are black catfish which swim in the cenote. Cenote Ik Kil is sacred to the Mayans and the Mayans used this cenote for both relaxation and ritual services. Ik Kil is near the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza, on the highway to Valladolid. Ik Kil was considered sacred by the Mayans who used the site as a location for human sacrifice to their rain god, Chaac. Bones and pieces of jewelry were found in the deep waters of this cenote by archaeologists and speleologists. A complex that includes a restaurant, store, changing rooms,"
"Canaanean blade A Canaanean blade is an archaeological term for a long, wide blade made out of stone or flint, predominantly found at sites in Israel and Lebanon (ancient Canaan). They were first manufactured and used in the Neolithic Stone Age to be used as weapons such as javelins or arrowheads. The same technology was used during the later Chalcolithic period in the production of broad sickle blade elements for harvesting of crops. Canaanean blades were also used in the threshing of cereal grains. This indicates the presence of early agricultural technologies. The blades would be attached to a small"
"the water table to the surface. One of the most impressive of these is the Cenote Sagrado, which is in diameter and surrounded by sheer cliffs that drop to the water table some below. The Cenote Sagrado was a place of pilgrimage for ancient Maya people who, according to ethnohistoric sources, would conduct sacrifices during times of drought. Archaeological investigations support this as thousands of objects have been removed from the bottom of the cenote, including material such as gold, carved jade, copal, pottery, flint, obsidian, shell, wood, rubber, cloth, as well as skeletons of children and men. The Temple"
"formed over 100,000 – 200,000 years, and was influenced by the injection of basaltic magma. The rhyolitic melts may originate in a crystal rich mush beneath the volcanic field. It has been suggested that Laguna del Maule is an important source of obsidian for the region, on both sides of the Andes. Finds have been made from the Pacific to Mendoza away from the coast, as well as at archaeological sites of Neuquén province. Obsidian forms sharp edges and was used by ancient societies for the production of projectiles as well as cutting instruments. In South America, obsidian was traded"
"such as the atlatl and spear, much of the actual fighting was done at close range with ""thrusting, stabbing, and crushing"". Weapons were crafted mostly from obsidian and chert, obsidian being the sharpest (but more brittle). Knapping chert or obsidian into bifacial projectile points and attaching them to atlatl darts, spears, and arrows was the dominant technology. Although bows and arrows were used, spears and Macuahuitl remained much more common. As well, chipped flint was common in close range combat knives. Located in the Mexican state of Yucatán, Mayapan is considered to be one of the last major Pre-Columbian Maya"
"Sal (meaning the ""Salt Mountains"") were a prominent landmark on the Old Spanish Trail between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. The range formed as a result of intrusion of igneous rocks and subsequent erosion of the surrounding less-resistant sedimentary rocks. The most abundant igneous rocks are porphyritic, with phenocrysts of hornblende and plagioclase: these rocks are called diorite in some accounts but trachyte in at least one other source. Syenite, some containing the unusual mineral nosean, makes up a few percent of the igneous rocks present. Some of the igneous intrusions have the shapes of laccoliths. Ages of these igneous"
"were incredibly localized and color and design varied according to location. Two of the most widely used colors among the Maya were red, which was made of cinnabar or vermilion, with hematite and iron ore added. Another popular culture, and one that was possibly the most valued among the Mayans was a blue or green pigment made with indigo and a mineral called Palygorskite. This blue/green color was highly valued because it was associated not only with jade, but with sacrifice to the gods as well. Spanish explorer Diego de Landa states in one of his accounts: ""...they had the"
"the most important resources was a lithic material called obsidian. Obsidian is a black volcanic glass used to make knives, chisels, adzes and other sharp tools in pre-contact times. Glassy rhyodacite was also collected from a number of minor outcrops on the flanks of Mount Fee, Mount Callaghan and Mount Cayley. This material appears in goat hunting sites and at the Elaho rockshelter, collectively dated from about 8,000 to 100 years old. A number of volcanic peaks in the Mount Cayley field were named by mountaineers that explored the area in the early 20th century. Mount Fee was named in"
"or place can be of considerable use to reconstruct commerce, production, distribution and thereby understand economic, social and political aspects of a civilization. This is the case in Yaxchilán, a Maya city where even warfare implications have been studied linked with obsidian use and its debris. Another example is the archeological recovery at coastal Chumash sites in California indicating considerable trade with the distant site of Casa Diablo, California in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans' use of obsidian was extensive and sophisticated; including carved and worked obsidian for tools and decorative objects. Mesoamericans also made a type of sword"
"Ch'iyar Qullu (Oruro) Ch'iyar Qullu (Aymara ""ch'iyara"" black, ""qullu"" mountain, ""black mountain"", also spelled ""Chiar Kkollu"") is a volcanic centre in Bolivia. It is located in the Oruro Department, Ladislao Cabrera Province, Salinas de Garci Mendoza Municipality, northeast of Salinas de Garci Mendoza, near a maar named Jayu Quta (""salt lake""). It is a sill formed from primitive phyric alkali basalt that closely resembles ocean island basalt in composition and now appears as a hill. The rocks contain augite and olivine and the eruption site coincides with a local lineament and is of Miocene age, with dates of 22.51±0.45 mya"
"so much aimed at destruction of the enemy as the seizure of captives and plunder. Maya warriors entered battle against the Spanish with flint-tipped spears, bows and arrows and stones. They wore padded cotton armour to protect themselves. The Spanish described the weapons of war of the Petén Maya as bows and arrows, fire-sharpened poles, flint-headed spears and two-handed swords crafted from strong wood with the blade fashioned from inset obsidian, similar to the Aztec ""macuahuitl"". Maya warriors wore body armour in the form of quilted cotton that had been soaked in salt water to toughen it; the resulting armour"
"and stones, including jade, topaz, and obsidian. Necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and headgear were made with jaguar and crocodile teeth, jaguar claws, and feathers. Mayan women and children wore less elaborate necklaces and earrings of similar materials. Aztecs and Incas perfected metalworking to a great art. Gold and silver jewelry was worn alongside ornaments made of feathers, shells, leather, and stones. Among the Aztecs, laws about which ornaments could be worn were strictly enforced. Only royalty could wear headdresses with gold and quetzal (a bird with brilliant blue-green feathers that reach three feet in length) feathers, for example. The weaving tradition,"
"The bow and arrow is another weapon that was used by the ancient Maya for both war and hunting. Although present in the Maya region during the Classic period, its use as a weapon of war was not favoured; it did not become a common weapon until the Postclassic. The Contact period Maya also used two-handed swords crafted from strong wood with the blade fashioned from inset obsidian, similar to the Aztec ""macuahuitl"". Maya warriors wore body armour in the form of quilted cotton that had been soaked in salt water to toughen it; the resulting armour compared favourably to"
"submitted to the Spanish. Among the Maya, ambush was a favoured tactic. Spanish weaponry included broadswords, rapiers, lances, pikes, halberds, crossbows, matchlocks and light artillery. Maya warriors fought with flint-tipped spears, bows and arrows and stones, and wore padded cotton armour to protect themselves. The Spanish introduced a number of Old World diseases previously unknown in the Americas, initiating devastating plagues that swept through the native populations. The first encounter with the Yucatec Maya may have occurred in 1502, when the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus came across a large trading canoe off Honduras. In 1511, Spanish survivors of the"
"the pressure of the northward-moving African Plate. It is made up of hard Paleozoic rocks such as granite and quartzite, as well as softer materials such as slate and gneiss. Its name, roughly meaning 'dark range', is likely derived from the dark color of some of the rocks and vegetation of the ranges that make up the mountainous system. It is also mentioned as ""Sierra Mariánica"" in some documents. Formerly it was a border area, a vast wilderness with little population, and its mountain passes were important for the communication between Andalusia and Central Spain. The peaks of the ranges"
"various sites in Guerrero, Oaxaca, Michoacán, the Central Highlands and the Mayan region. As silver rarely appeared on the surface it was almost exclusively mined. In the pre Hispanic period, metals were used to create needles, punches, tweezers, weapons and musical instrument but its most important uses, especially gold and silver, was as jewelry for the social elite and as offerings to the gods. Gold and silver were worked by hammering, plating and molds the blending of these and some casting was known. One pre Hispanic technique was to hammer metal flat, punch out a design and then layer this"
"Sacred Cenote The Sacred Cenote (, , ""sacred well""; alternatively known as the ""Well of Sacrifice"") refers to a noted ""cenote"" at the pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site of Chichen Itza, in the northern Yucatán Peninsula. It is located to the north of Chichen Itza's civic precinct, to which it is connected by a ""sacbe"", or raised and paved pathway. According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac. Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered"