Beneath the soil of Jalisco lies one of the world’s greatest treasures of volcanic glass—obsidian. Amazingly, evidence shows that people were working this natural glass here more than 10,000 years ago, says local archaeologist Rodrigo Esparza.
“Nevertheless, we are losing it,” he warns. “Our obsidian is starting to vanish!”
Esparza’s observations come after the recent publication of the book “La Obsidiana en Jalisco” (375 pages, El Colegio de Michoacán, 2025), of which he is a co-editor.
“Twelve writers contributed to this book, giving us an up-to-date picture of what’s happening with obsidian in this state,” Esparza told me recently.
Because obsidian — a natural glass formed when lava cools rapidly — can be used to make excellent knives and cutters, artisans have been working it since the dawn of time and have developed ingenious techniques for producing efficient blades. The Aztecs even developed a kind of machete called the macahuitl. This was a wide, flat sword, made of wood with small obsidian blades glued into a slot all around the perimeter. Spaniards testified that with one blow, a macahuitl could easily decapitate a horse.
Please login or subscribe to view the complete article.