The tepoztopilli was a common front-line weapon of the Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 military. The tepoztopilli was a pole-arm, and to judge from depictions in various Aztec codices

Aztec codices

Aztec codices are books written by pre-Columbian and colonial-era Aztecs. These codices provide some of the best primary sources for Aztec culture....

 it was roughly the height of a man, with a broad wooden head about twice the length of the users' palm or shorter, edged with razor-sharp obsidian

Obsidian

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock.It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimum crystal growth...

 blades which were deeply set in grooves carved into the head, and cemented in place with bitumen or plant resin as an adhesive. This made the weapon vaguely similar to the macuahuitl

Macuahuitl

The maquahuitl is a weapon shaped like a wooden sword. Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades made from obsidian, a volcanic glass stone frequently used for tool making by the Aztec and other pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures...

or "macana

Macana

The term macana, of Taíno origin, refers to various wooden weapons used by the various native cultures of Central and South America.The earliest meaning attributed to macana is a sword-like weapon made out of wood, but still sharp enough to be dangerous...

", however it had a much smaller cutting edge and a longer handle. This gave the weapon a superior reach, but blows had to be more carefully executed.

Halfway between a halberd

Halberd

A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...

 and a spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

, the tepoztopilli was equally useful for slashing and thrusting. Conquistador

Conquistador

Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

 Bernal Díaz del Castillo

Bernal Díaz del Castillo

Bernal Díaz del Castillo was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards for Hernán Cortés, himself serving as a rodelero under Cortés.-Early life:...

 mentions that on one occasion his armour was pierced by an Aztec lance and that only his thick cotton underpadding saved his life.

Unfortunately, the last authentic tepoztopilli was destroyed in a fire in 1884 in the Armería Real in Madrid where it was housed.