Where can I find good resources on Aztec weaponry?

by rowanhopkins

Hope I'm okay to ask this here, sorry if not.

I've started selling asset packs for Unreal Engine and I'm working on some Aztec weapons. I'm doing my research to find out about them and get some idea of what they looked like. Other than the macuahuitl and tepoztopilli every source seems to contradict the previous one so I'm struggling to work out what the different weapons were called and what they look like.

I'm mostly looking for resources I can use to do my research, that said, any information about Aztec weaponry would be good. A few things specifically I'm looking for are;

  • What materials were used? I know obsidian and oak but surely they used other types of stone too given how fragile obsidian is? for example, as far as I can tell they had agricultural "axe like" tools but the ones made of bronze were used as currency, not practically and while obsidian is sharp, wouldn't it be effectively useless at cutting down a tree?
  • what's the difference between a huitzauhqui and macuahuitl? I see the huitzauhqui described as a club and the macuahuitl more like a sword but the only couple of pictures I've been able to find show them as looking almost identical?
  • What were the different weapons used called? I'd like a solid jumping off point for researching into this

As I mentioned, I'm mostly looking for resources I can use, but any other information would be useful

Thanks for any help.

RenaissanceSnowblizz

Osprey publishing does a lot of these types of books for the miniatures wargaming market. They emphasise a fair bit on the visual.

https://ospreypublishing.com/aztec-warrior

Just one example their Man-at-Arms series nr 32 Aztec Warrior.

They are fairly cheap and you can get an electronic version. As a starter primer I think it likely might be very useful. They contain a bibliography too, though published in 2001 it lacks anything from the last 20 years or so. Man was it really that long ago.

Check the "you might also be interested in..." bit too from the link.