Map

object

Obsidian

Colors & materials · Objects

Volcanic glass, sharp enough for blades and dark enough to take a reflection. In central Mexico it is a worked material with ritual uses, not a mood.

Also known as itztli

Nahua tradition

Roman religion

  • Obsidian appears in Roman religion.

    Pliny’s Natural History treats Obsidianus stone among dark volcanic glasses used for mirrors and gems. A named obsidian in that encyclopedia, not the Florentine smoking-mirror walks already published and not flint as fire-stone.

    from Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE

    appears in · sourced · documented

Northwest Coast tradition

  • Obsidian appears in Northwest Coast tradition.

    Swanton’s Tlingit collection sits in a coast that worked and traded volcanic glass among sharp blades. A named obsidian in that ethnography’s material world, not tezcatl smoking-mirror as Nahua rite and not flint as silica fire-stone alone.

    from John R. Swanton · Tlingit Myths and Texts, 1909

    appears in · sourced · documented

  • Obsidian is used in Medicine.

    Obsidian used in Medicine. Volcanic glass, sharp enough for blades and dark enough to take a reflection. An organized craft of treating the sick. The Atlas keeps their meeting local, without dissolving either into a single meaning.

    from SHOE.BLUE · SHOE.BLUE, 2026

    used in · interpretive · modern interpretation

  • Stone contains Obsidian.

    Obsidian is a volcanic glass among stones. The species is geological before it is ritual.

    contains · interpretive · documented

sources