Prehispanic kind of offering with flowers, skulls and painted sand in Xochimilco, Mexico

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A flower war or flowery war (xochiyaoyotl) is the name given to the battles fought between the Aztec Triple Alliance and some of their enemies: most notably the city-states of Tlaxcala, Huexotzinco, Atlixco and Cholula. The exact nature of the Flower Wars is not well determined but a number of different interpretations of the concept exist. One popular idea of the Flower Wars is that it was a special institutionalized kind of warfare where two enemy states would plan battles through mutual arrangement in order to satisfy the religious needs of both combatants for war captives to use in sacrificial rituals, but also, possibly, to train young warriors and enable social mobility which for the lower classes was primarily possible through military service.

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Size: 3610px × 2400px
Location: Xochimilco, Mexico
Photo credit: © Guillermo Lopez Barrera / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: .., 2, aztec, city, colour, day, de, death, dia, gods, mexican, mexico, muertos, november, offering, pre-columbian, pre-hispanic, precolumbian, prehispanic, religion, traditions, xochimilco, xochiyaoyotl