I am curious about this, I am wondering if you used a knife made of obsidian on somebody if it would break or if it could actually hurt them, although I would never have the audacity to try it. But the idea of an obsidian tipped crossbow bolt is kind of entertaining as well. However I have read that obsidian is very fragile, so I have no clue if shooting someone with an obsidian tipped bolt would actually do anything or if it would just shatter.
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There’s so many variables here.
Angle of the impact, velocity, grain direction, angle of the edge, etc. etc. etc…
That said, the Aztec did use obsidian axes, Macuahuitl. But you’ll notice, atleast in the picture shown, that the length of the shards isn’t very long
Obsidian shards can be extremely sharp. But they’re more suitable for scalpels than fighting knives.
Obsidian arrowheads have historically been used, but they do tend to shatter or fracture on impact. Can still kill, but unlike a steel arrowhead they’re unlikely to be intact for re-use later.
I mean for a more accessible example, think about glass. It’s also sharp but fragile, and frankly obsidian is just fancy earth glass. Glass can shatter off the body, but the edges can easily slices thru skin. Heavy enough shards can pierce further in, and really cause damage. Depends entirely on the details of the scenario.
No, the obsidian tip wouldn’t kill them, but the bleeding would.