Inca weapons, any interest?

[Arto O]

Hi,
A question which one should not do, but it will cost me time and some money, so I will do it. I have a collection of Inca weapons, reproductions and maybe some original ones: Clubs, axes etc. So if the forum members have interest in these, I will start to take pictures, scan them and send.
Let me know.
Thanks
Arto

[David Thompson]

Arto O -- I'm interested.

[eppanzer]

I'm interested too!

[Arto O]

Thanks David & eppanzer,
I just came back from 2 weeks working trip, 28 h without sleeping, and the next six weeks busy again. So, I am happy to send some photos and information, but at the moment I don´t know when.
Arto

[YC Chen]

Hello,
I'm interested in Inca weapons, though I know little about them.

[Arto O]

Thanks YC Chen,

Travelling and traveling for my work. In november I will send photos.
Cheers
Arto

[Arto O]

Hi,
Here a reconstruction of an inca warrior.
1. He is wearing "uncu", a sleeveless tunic which was up to the knees. The decoration at the low part is too decorated to belong to an ordinary warrior, which is indicated by the helmet. I used what I had available. Under the tunic he has layers of canes and cotton to protect from the hits of oponents.
2. He is wearing a helmet, which is made from wood, the inside is made from cotton. Surprisingly resistant, absorbs the hits. The cover indicates the colors of his troop.
3. He wearing sandals made from llama skin and knee decoration.
4. In his left hand he is carrying a defensive shield, which actually only the upper part (the decorated one) is packed with llama skin and wood. The rest is just hanging piece of cloth. Behind the shield (in the photo nearly invisible) he is wearing a round metal shield to protect the chest.
5. In his right arm he is carrying a stone axe.

The foot soldier

The Incas didn´t invent any new weapons, all of them were used already by warriors from other cultures or kingdoms. Many times the origins of these weapons were as hunting weapons. I had found 10:
1. Porra: very varied shaped stone or metal headed club.
2. Hacha: metal or stone axe.
3. Macana: wooden club (like the ones used by cave men)
4. Honda: a sling shot
5. Boleadora: three stones attached together
6. Alabarda: a long poled axe
7. Lanza: a spear
8. Estolica: a spear throwing device
9. Arco y flecha: bow and arrow
10. Haybinto: a stone attached to a string.
I already scanned photos of some of these, but unluckily the size was too large to fit here. Only the warrior photo was correct one. But I will send the others in the next days.
Cheers
Arto

[Ironmachine]

1. Porra: very varied shaped stone or metal headed club.
2. Hacha: metal or stone axe.
3. Macana: wooden club (like the ones used by cave men)
4. Honda: a sling shot
5. Boleadora: three stones attached together
6. Alabarda: a long poled axe
7. Lanza: a spear
8. Estolica: a spear throwing device
9. Arco y flecha: bow and arrow
10. Haybinto: a stone attached to a string.

Do you know the Inca names of these weapons?

[LWD]

... 4. Honda: a sling shot
...

I assume you meant a sling or a staff sling and not a sling shot or am I wrong? If so which was it or were both used?

Sling - usually a piece of leather 2 to 3 feet long with a wide spot in the middle to hold the shot/bullet/stone.
Staff Sling - a similar piece of leather attached to one end of a stick (staff) with a hook at the same end to hold the free end of the sling.
Sling shot - a Y shaped device griped on one arm of the Y with the other two having an elastic band connected to them and with a pocket for the shot/bullet/stone in the middle.

[Arto O]

Hi Ironmachine and LWD,
I used the names, which are more popularly used here, but the original names are:
1. Porra or macana, the same
2. Hacha is in spanish, means axe. The original names are Mutu´na, or Chictana or Chambi. Chambi also means axe blade or the bronce blade.
3. Macana, Mazo, clava, Huactana.
4. Honda is in spanish. The original is huaraca or cabuya. I had a doubt about the english name. But the correct is the "sling". Incas made them from llama wool. Thanks for correcting LWD.
5. Boleadora is in original liwi or ayllo.
6. Alabarda is also a spanish term. The original is chambi. As the axe.
7. Lanza is correctly ñahui or chuqui.
8. I don´t have another name for estolica.
9. Bow and arrow is Huacachina or huachi
10. Huybinto is the original one.
Why so many different names? In the Inca empire people spoke many different languages; quetchua and aymara were the most common ones. Some reserachers say that the same incas (the elite from Cusco) spoke puquina, now extinct.
Cheers
Arto

[LWD]

... Thanks for correcting LWD. ...

More of a clarification than a correction. The terms are often used somewhat interchangeably but I was particularly curious about whether or not they used staff slings as opposed to regular slings. So they made the cord out of wool. Was the "pocket" used to hold the projectile woven in or attached?

[Ironmachine]

1. Porra or macana, the same

Are you sure about "porra"? Because this is a Spanish word, and according to RAE it comes from the latin word "porrum"...

[Arto O]

Hi,
To LWD, tomorrow I hope to fix the photos to adequate size. "A photo is valid of thousands of words"
To Ironmachine, you must be right. We are just used to word "porra" that I never thought the origen of the word.
Arto

[LWD]

One thing to keep in mind. From studying European weapons one weapon might have a multitude of names especially if one varies the time and location and one name might describe a multitude of weapons. Given that we are dealing with multiple languages and a fairly large area I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing happening here.

[LWD]

Hi,
To LWD, tomorrow I hope to fix the photos to adequate size. "A photo is valid of thousands of words"...

Indeed and thanks for your efforts. If you have a picture of the other side of the shield that would be very intersting as well. I'm kind of wondering how the strapping arangement worked.