Scientists were fascinated by the ghostly find: a human skeleton buried in an Aztec temple with a clay, skull-shaped whistle in each bony hand. But no one blew into the whistles for nearly 15 years.

Brain scans of modern listeners suggest that Aztec whistles sound like human screams, which may have prepared sacrifice victims for their journey to the underworld. When you purchase through links on ...

Ranging from a threatening hiss to a blood-curdling scream, the sound of the Aztec death whistle is as creepy as the skull-like appearance of the instrument that produces it. Brain scans suggest the ...

MEXICO CITY – Scientists were fascinated by the ghostly find: a human skeleton buried in an Aztec temple with a clay, skull-shaped whistle in each bony hand. But no one blew into the noisemakers for ...

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 ...

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 ...

The skull-shaped body of the Aztec death whistle may represent Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec Lord of the Underworld. Credit: Sascha Frühholz / UZH The so-called Aztec “death whistle” is an instrument ...

Due to their penchant for sacrificial rituals, the Aztecs are still considered a not exactly squeamish people. One of their best-known gadgets, the Aztec death whistle, underlines this image. The ...