The Aztec Death Whistle

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Some experts argue that the Aztecs probably used the noise produced by these skull-shaped instruments to "accompany" the souls of the victims of sacrificial rites to the afterlife, but also in battle to intimidate their enemies.

In this video, the musician Quijas Yxayotl explains that the "whistle of death" was used for special ceremonies, such as the day of the dead.

"In war usually a hundred of these instruments were played at the same time. The warriors marching towards the enemies played those notes to psychologically destabilize the enemy "says the musician.

Roberto Velázquez Cabrera, 66, an engineer who lives in Mexico, has conducted research on these ancient Aztec instruments for several years to examine their sound and make faithful replicas.

The sound produced is associated with rituals related to death, not only because of the particular form, but because two specimens were found in the hands of a male skeleton, probably a sacrificial victim, in front of the temple of the wind god Ehecatl in Tlatelolco

The origin of this instrument can be dated between 1250 and 1380 and its noise is comparable to that of the wind.

The first drawings concerning the "whistles of death" were published only in 1971 - one in the form of a skull and the other of an owl, - which in Mexican culture are associated with the advent of death.

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