was used in various ways: as decorations used in fertility rituals, yiataztli, a kind of bag, and as an amatetéuitl, a badge used to symbolize a prisoner's soul after sacrifice. It was also used to dress idols, priests and sacrifice victims in forms of crowns, stoles, plumes, wigs, trusses and bracelets. Paper items such as flags, skeletons and very long papers, up to the length of a man, were used as offerings, often by burning them. Another important paper item for rituals was paper cut in the form of long flags or trapezoids and painted with black rubber spots to depict the characteristic of the god being honored. At a certain time of year, these were also used to ask for rain. At this time, the papers were colored blue with plumage at the spearhead. Colonial period to 20th century When the Spanish arrived, they noted the production of codices and paper, which was also made from maguey and palm fibers as well as bark. It was specifically noted by Pedro Mártir de Anglería. After the Conquest, indigenous paper, especially bark paper lost its value as a tribute item not only because the Spanish preferred European paper but also because bark paper's connection to indigenous religion caused it to be banned. The justification for the banning of amate was that it was used for magic and witchcraft. This was part of the Spaniard's efforts to mass convert the indigenous to Catholicism, which included the mass burning of codices, which contained most of the native history as well as cultural and natural knowledge. Only 16 of 500 surviving codices were written before the Conquest. The other, post-conquest books were written on bark paper although a few were written on European paper, cotton, or animal hides. They were largely the work of missionaries, such as Bernardino de Sahagún, who were interested in recording the history and knowledge of the indigenous people. Some of the important codices of this type include Codex Sierra, Codex La Cruz Badiano and Codex Florentino. The Codex Mendocino was commissioned by viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in 1525 to learn about the tribute system and other indigenous practices to be adapted to Spanish rule. However, it is on European paper. Although bark paper was banned, it did not completely disappear. In the early colonial period, there was a shortage of European paper, which made it necessary to use the