Pre-Columbian, West Mexico, Jalisco / Colima, ca. 300 BCE to 300 CE. A large spear or knife blade knapped from a piece of jet-black obsidian with a notched neck. Obsidian was revered by ancient Mesoamericans as being one of the finest and sharpest materials for tools, and the stones were often traded hundreds of miles northward from the volcanic sources in the Sierra Madre of Mexico and Guatemala. While this blade could have been used and attached by the notched base to a wooden handle, it is likely this served as a ritualistic item or funerary offering. Ancient West Mexican cultures buried their dead in shaft tombs furnished with ceramic figures, vessels, offerings, and precious stone items of jade and obsidian. Size: 5.7" L x 2.25" W (14.5 cm x 5.7 cm)

Provenance: private Lakeland, Georgia, USA collection, acquired from family, originally collected by Carlton Godwin, El Paso, Texas, USA

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#182768

Chips and abrasions to the peripheries and notched shoulders are not fully formed. Overall great condition with light mineral deposits.