The Aztec skull whistle produces a shrill, screaming sound. A study shows that these whistles have a disturbing effect on the human brain. The Aztecs may have deliberately used this effect in ...

As its name suggests, an Aztec death whistle can make a most dreadful sound. But the effect depends on how it's played, explains musicologist and archaeologist Arnd Adje Both of the Free University of ...

Many ancient cultures used musical instruments in ritual ceremonies. Ancient Aztec communities from the pre-Columbian period of Mesoamerica had a rich mythological codex that was also part of their ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The Aztec death whistle is a mesoamerican instrument designed to imitate a human scream, and was often ...

Archaeologists have discovered numerous ceramic or clay whistles at Aztec sites, dubbed “death whistles” because of their distinctive skull shapes. A new paper published in the journal Communications ...

Aztec “skull whistles” found in ancient gravesites were designed to produce shrieking sounds and instil “otherworldly” fear even in modern people, scientists say. Archaeologists have uncovered several ...

For those who want to celebrate Halloween like it’s 1399: Scientists are sending shivers down the internet’s collective spine by recreating an ancient “Aztec Death Whistle” that’s said to emit the ...

When the Aztecs dominated central Mexico, a blood-curdling sound like a human scream played through a small whistle. Luis Aceves via Unsplash In cultures around the world, instruments have brought ...

Ritual Aztec whistles produced a brain-scrambling "scream," according to a new study. The objects were used during human sacrifices and may have prepared victims for their supposed descent to Mictlan, ...