> overtones was just the veneer to cover the real political purpose.
>
In my reading, the conflict is real but it is not total war - no burning crops and cities, tearing down walls, etc. It is ritualised warfare, but still very serious. However, it also has to be borne in mind that the sacrifice element is itself a prop of social stability; the war is a bit like the Carmanian idea of making someone elses home the abode of war - someone has to get to get the chop, but it might as well be the other guy. They would burn temples, however, if things got so bad that they felt a need to actually conquer another city and bring it under direct rule; this kind of event would probably be very bloody indeed.
Interestingly, in my reading of the Hotcak myths I posted earlier, the Hotcak appear to be in an implicit war with another group referred to as the "giants" or "man-eaters". And these "man-eaters" appear to play a lot of games, notably ball games... Now the Hotcak are as far north as the great lakes, and there is no serious evidence of Aztech (or proto-Aztech) penetration that far north, except perhaps the possible/probable evidence around the Anasazi in Arizona, IIRC. Interesting speculation, however...
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