In 2012, Occpaleo was able to acquire this amazing example of an obsidian blade core from Pre-Columbian Mexico for molding and casting.   It is 6 and 3/8ths inches long, and shows the prismatic blade scars of the finest precision core work known in history.  The black opaque obsidiann in this core is consistant with the variety used in the Ucarea Obsidian Mines of Central Mexico during the Classic to Post Classic around 500 to 1,000 AD.   These mines were used to supply such sites as Tula and Chitzen Itza(Healan 1997) and this example compared well with the examined cores in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution from the Central Mexico sites in the region.
  Archaeology evidence has shown that these cores were made with a unique method of hardwood rods and pegs and a "pry" method of manufacture.   The blades produced are so precise, that they can be used for scalpel blades that are sharper than surgical steel blades when viewed under a microscope.   Fracturing down to a molecular edge, they cut skin instantly on contact without pressure.   These blades were also inserted into the famous Aztec War Clubs to make the Macuahuitl, or "Obsidian Sword" which was feared in the Spanish conquest accounts.(ex Alan Brown coll., ex. Gilbert Cooper coll.)  cast copyright Occpaleo 2018