• Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      When you phrase it that way sounds like it could have been a trade too. Trade your daughter for another’s daughter to marry your son.

      • xantoxis@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        This is what it has to be, it doesn’t make sense any other way.

        If there was a fight over reproductive opportunities, and this valley’s men took the women of another valley, there would be a mix; some from the locals, some from the other tribe.

        If there was a fight over reproductive opportunities and this valley’s men lost, there’d be no adult women at all.

        If there was a fight for some other reason, you would assume that either a) everyone dies, or b) some mix of men and women died leaving a mix of men and women, all of whom would be locals.

        The only way this works is if there’s no fight; the men traded with another tribe’s men.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It would have been pretty primitive fighting. While I’m sure death did happen, it might not have been a certainty even for the fighters. If they had been living the the area stably for thousands of years, there’s a good chance they found an equilibrium regarding the cycle of violence.

      Aztecs were a warrior culture but when they fought, they fought to capture rather than kill. It was so they could sacrifice the prisoners, but it is an example of conflict with serious consequences that didn’t involve much death on the battlefield, let alone for those who were likely not even combatants. It’s even possible the women willingly went along with whoever was stronger. Hell, let’s add another layer of complexity, it’s possible the women willingly went long with whoever was stronger specifically so that they would spare the lives of the ones they were leaving.

      It’s really all speculation without any evidence, and even with evidence, it’s easy to misinterpret that evidence when viewing it through our perspective. Eg: ancient aliens.