Here you can hear its scary scream Zurich researchers explain the Aztec death whistle
The Aztecs used a skull whistle for ritual sacrificial ceremonies. The shrill sound also has an effect on modern people, researchers at the University of Zurich have discovered.
No time? blue News summarizes for itself
- The Aztecs blew the death whistle during sacrificial rituals.
- It emits an eerie scream.
- Researchers at the University of Zurich have now unlocked the secret of the death whistle.
Aztec communities may have made use of the death whistle's terrifying cry to influence the audience in ritual procedures, the University of Zurich (UZH) announced today.
The Aztec death whistle with its skull-shaped body appears to represent the Aztec ruler of the underworld. Its scream-like sound could have prepared the human sacrifices for their descent into the underworld of Mictlan.
To understand the physical mechanisms behind the shrill, shrieking whistling sound, the team of researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH), led by Sascha Frühholz, Professor of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, created digital 3D reconstructions of original Aztec death pipes from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin.
These models show a unique internal construction with two opposing sound chambers that generate air turbulence and thus the shrill sound. "We know of no comparable musical instrument from pre-Columbian cultures or from other historical and contemporary contexts," Frühholz is quoted as saying in the press release.
Like a human cry
According to the study, the pipes symbolized visual and sonic elements of mythological creatures from the Aztec underworld. Sound recordings of original and replica death whistles were perceived by listeners as extremely frightening and chilling - like a human scream.
The Aztec death whistle seems to imitate frightening noises both acoustically and affectively. "This is in line with the tradition of many ancient cultures of capturing natural sounds in musical instruments. The death whistles were used in rituals to imitate mythological creatures," explains Frühholz.
In addition to reactions in regions of the affective nervous system, the research team also observed activity in brain regions that link sounds with symbolic meaning. This indicates that the sounds of the death whistle trigger both a psychoaffective reaction and a mental processing of the sound symbolism in the listeners.
You can find more acoustic samples here.
SDA
