Aztec death whistle

[1] In the late 1990s, at the Tlatelolco site in Mexico City, the excavation of a temple dedicated to the Aztec wind deity Ehecatl revealed the remains of a 20-year-old male sacrificial victim clutching various musical instruments, among them a small ceramic skull-shaped whistle.

Experimental models of death whistles have been constructed and tested to explore hypotheses and for use in conferences and demonstrations, given that the original ancient resonators cannot be utilized for these purposes.

Music archeologist Arnd Adje Both, who has tested the original excavated whistles, reports that the actual sound produced is far softer, describing it as similar to "atmospheric noise generated by the wind.

The only known reference to the potential ancient use of this type of whistle comes from this excerpt in Lewis Spence's 1913 book Myths of Mexico and Peru: "The most remarkable festival in connection with Tezcatlipoca was the Toxcatl, held in the fifth month.

On the day of this festival, a youth was slain, who for an entire year previously, had been carefully instructed in the role of victim...