Death whistles

November 20, 2024 6:52 PM

Why Aztec “death whistles” sound like human screams "Archaeologists have discovered numerous ceramic or clay whistles at Aztec sites, dubbed "death whistles" because of their distinctive skull shapes. A new paper ... examines the acoustical elements of the unique shrieking sounds produced by those whistles, as well as how human listeners are emotionally affected by the sounds."
posted by dhruva (7 comments total)

Holy shit even with the description I was not expecting these to sound so creepily human! I wonder how a cheap 3D printed copy would sound...
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:41 PM on November 20 [3 favorites]

If you want to know how a cheap one sounds, just go to Teotihuacán (I mean, go to Teotihuacán anyway, it's amazing) and there will be approximately 900 vendors blowing into them to convince tourists to buy them.
posted by capricorn at 7:45 PM on November 20 [2 favorites]

If you want to know how a cheap one sounds, just go to Teotihuacán (I mean, go to Teotihuacán anyway, it's amazing) and there will be approximately 900 vendors blowing into them to convince tourists to buy them.

Which is funny, because Teotihuacán isn't Aztec, and even the Aztecs used to go there to marvel at the ruins.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 8:12 PM on November 20 [1 favorite]

To me it's more that they are inhuman or worse. I hear the timbre and sound quality of a scream, that rough edge that human vocal cords produce at full volume with no control, but at a pitch that only a child could produce.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 8:16 PM on November 20 [1 favorite]

I'd really like a video of Homer Simpson screaming with this sound effect, I think it'd fit extremely well.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 8:17 PM on November 20 [1 favorite]

Also it is very cool to read about how they work and that it's actually a novel whistle design! How did people come up with it, I ask myself... it's not at all obvious to me how you'd get there from scratch.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 8:35 PM on November 20

How did people come up with it, I ask myself...

Hollow out the skull of your enemy, blow into it? It's not rocket science.

(Note: requires a lot of enemies with intact skulls)
posted by Philipschall at 9:08 PM on November 20 [1 favorite]