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Aztec Death Whistles Sound like Human Screams and May Have Been Used as Psychological Warfare
Ancient Origins ^ | Updated on 11/17/2020 | Liz Leafloor

Posted on 11/18/2020 3:56:49 AM PST by LibWhacker

Aztec death whistle experimental replicas

17 November, 2020 - 19:43 lizleafloor

Aztec Death Whistles Sound like Human Screams and May Have Been Used as Psychological Warfare

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When odd, skull-shaped grave items were found by archaeologists decades ago at an Aztec temple in Mexico, they were assumed to be mere toys or ornaments, and were catalogued and stored in warehouses. However, years later, experts discovered they were creepy ‘death whistles’ that made piercing noises resembling a human scream, which the ancient Aztecs may have used during ceremonies, sacrifices, or during battles to strike fear into their enemies.

The Aztec Death Whistles were Not Common Instruments

Two skull-shaped, hollow whistles were found 20 years ago at the temple of the wind god Ehecatl, in the hands of a sacrificed male skeleton. When the whistles were finally blown, the sounds created were described as terrifying. The whistles make the sounds of “humans howling in pain, spooky gusts of whistling wind or the ‘scream of a thousand corpses” writes MailOnline.

Skeleton of a man buried at the wind god temple, Tlatelolco, with an Aztec death whistle (indicated). ( Roberto Velázquez )

Roberto Velázquez Cabrera, a mechanical engineer and founder of the Mexico-based Instituto Virtual de Investigación Tlapitzcalzin, has spent years recreating the instruments of the pre-Columbians to examine the sounds they make. He writes in MexicoLore that the death whistle in particular was not a common instrument, and was possibly reserved for sacrifices – blown just before a victim was killed in order to guide souls to the afterlife- or for use in battle.

Aztec ritual human sacrifice portrayed in the Codex Magliabechiano. ( Public Domain )

Why Did the Aztecs Use the Death Whistles?

“Some historians believe that the Aztecs used to sound the death whistle in order to help the deceased journey into the underworld. Tribes are said to have used the terrifying sounds as psychological warfare , to frighten enemies at the start of battle,” explains Oddity Central . If the whistles were worn around the necks of Aztec warriors and then used to shock their enemies at the beginning of battles, the psychological effect on an enemy of a hundred death whistles screaming in unison might have been great, unhinging and undermining their resolve.

Illustration of Aztec Warriors as found in the Codex Mendoza

Illustration of Aztec Warriors as found in the Codex Mendoza. ( Public Domain )

Another hypothesis proposes that the sacrificed man was given the whistles so he could blow into them after he died and use the spirit of the wind to guide him safely through the Underworld.

Los Angeles Times reports that some experts think the ancients used the different tones to send the brain into certain states of consciousness, or even to manage or treat illnesses . Some of the replica whistles created by Cabrera make sounds and tones reaching the top range of human hearing, almost inaudible to us.

Photos of a cremated Aztec death whistle, by Jorge Cervantes Martínez. ( Mexicolore)

An expert in pre-Hispanic music archaeology, Arnd Adje Both told Los Angeles Times "My experience is that at least some pre-Hispanic sounds are more destructive than positive, others are highly trance-evocative. Surely, sounds were used in all kind of cults, such as sacrificial ones, but also in healing ceremonies.”

Other types of ancient noisemakers have been found made from different materials, such as feathers, sugar cane, clay, and frog skin.

Roberto Velázquez Cabrera notes that although pre-Columbian music has been lost to us in modern times, the sounds of recreated whistles can be used to give us a better understanding of the ancients. He said, “We've been looking at our ancient culture as if they were deaf and mute. But I think all of this is tied closely to what they did, how they thought.”

Top Image: Experimental models of Aztec death whistles.



TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: aztec; death; diversity; godsgravesglyphs; screams; whistles
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Listen to whistle here => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9QuO09z-SI&feature=emb_logo
1 posted on 11/18/2020 3:56:49 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

=8-0


2 posted on 11/18/2020 4:01:27 AM PST by mewzilla (Break out the mustard seeds. )
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To: LibWhacker; SunkenCiv; Gamecock; SaveFerris; PROCON

Is that anything like the Haitian voodoo rattle torture?


3 posted on 11/18/2020 4:05:48 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: LibWhacker

Looks like a pipe. Where do you put the weed?


4 posted on 11/18/2020 4:23:41 AM PST by duckman ( Not tired of winning!)
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To: LibWhacker

It sounded like white noise at first. When they played the audio reconstruction with the horses, I had to put my mind into that situation to appreciate it. Otherwise it just sounds like a beat up old truck with a squeaky belt.


5 posted on 11/18/2020 4:31:01 AM PST by rarestia (Repeal the 17th Amendment and ratify Article the First to give the power back to the people!)
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To: LibWhacker

Wicked sound... it really does sound like a scream


6 posted on 11/18/2020 4:37:12 AM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: duckman; SaveFerris; PROCON; Larry Lucido

Saw some in the bargain bin at Putumayo.


7 posted on 11/18/2020 4:37:54 AM PST by Gamecock ("The prosperity gospel is exactly like marrying someone for their money." -Sean Demars)
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To: NFHale

Yep, that’s what we’re going to hear when Pres. Trump is sworn in for a second term.


8 posted on 11/18/2020 4:44:14 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

9 posted on 11/18/2020 5:34:22 AM PST by Red Badger (Democrats cheat. ... It's what they do. ... GUARANTEED! ... Even if it's not necessary!....)
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To: LibWhacker

Thank God for the conquistadors who wiped them out. It was like allied armies rolling into Hitlers death camps.


10 posted on 11/18/2020 5:57:40 AM PST by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. .... )
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To: LibWhacker

What a great gift for the kids :-)


11 posted on 11/18/2020 5:58:06 AM PST by broken_clock (Go Trump!)
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To: LibWhacker

Had the same thought ... :^)


12 posted on 11/18/2020 6:01:50 AM PST by NFHale (The Second Amendment - By Any Means Necessary.)
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To: LibWhacker

Confederate army had the rebel yell.

Polish hussars, or Winged hussars cavalry, attached wings to their backs that made a distinct noise when they charged into battle.


13 posted on 11/18/2020 6:08:00 AM PST by Steven Tyler (President Elect Steven Tyler)
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To: LibWhacker

Ah yes, the kind, loving, peaceful native Americans that that evil, hateful, horrible Christopher Columbus defeated, should make us all ashamed of our white heritage!


14 posted on 11/18/2020 6:28:06 AM PST by FroggyTheGremlim (I'll be good, I will, I will!)
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To: DesertRhino

Good point! I don’t know if they killed as many as Hitler, but if they could have, they would have. Totally bloodthirsty.


15 posted on 11/18/2020 6:35:54 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: broken_clock

Lol

I want one. But the ones I found on the web are going for $70 or so. Lol, I don’t know if I could stand to listen to it that much, even when using it to scare my enemies (i.e., libs).


16 posted on 11/18/2020 6:39:34 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Found a repop on eBay for under 10 bucks.
Sounds like a predator call. Kind of.
Will use it to freak out the granolas camping close to my house.


17 posted on 11/18/2020 6:58:49 AM PST by GranTorino (Bloody Lips Save Ships.)
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To: LibWhacker

from $8.00 up

https://www.google.com/search?q=Death+Whistles&client=firefox-b-d&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMm8Sqr4ztAhWsGVkFHWTUCDAQ_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=865&bih=427


18 posted on 11/18/2020 7:07:47 AM PST by Chode (Send bachelors and come heavily armed. )
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To: LibWhacker

More death-centric arts & crafts from our pals the Aztecs.


19 posted on 11/18/2020 7:07:52 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: Yardstick
And other cultures made images to follow them into the grave, that featured fertility rites or just good looking babes (in an ancient, clay sense of good looking).

The Aztecs were into death, not life.

20 posted on 11/18/2020 7:26:18 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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