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Obsidian can be used to make extremely sharp knives, and obsidian blades are a type of glass knife made using naturally occurring obsidian instead of manufactured glass. Obsidian is used by some surgeons for scalpel blades, although this is not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use on humans. [61]
Obsidian projectile point.. Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy.
Obsidian blades also have difficulty penetrating European mail. The thin, replaceable blades used on the macuahuitl were easily dulled or chipped by repeated impacts on bone or wood, making artful use of the weapon critical. It takes more time to lift and swing a club than it does to thrust with a sword.
The obsidian mirror was a metaphor for rulership and power among the Aztecs. [76] Aztec rulers used a double-sided obsidian mirror to oversee their subjects; by gazing into one side the ruler could see how his subjects were comporting themselves and in the other side his subjects could see themselves reflected back. [7]
Most commonly, volcanic glass refers to obsidian, a rhyolitic glass with high silica (SiO 2) content. [7] Other types of volcanic glass include the following: Pumice, which is considered a glass because it has no crystal structure. Apache tears, a kind of nodular obsidian.
Helenite, also known as Mount St. Helens obsidian, emerald obsidianite, and ruby obsidianite, is a glass made from the fused volcanic rock dust from Mount St. Helens and marketed as a gemstone. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Helenite was first created accidentally after the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 .