The Why Files on MSN

It sounds like a human dying - it's a 500-year-old weapon

It sounds like a person being tortured. But it’s not a scream — it’s a whistle. The Aztec Death Whistle was used in rituals, sacrifices, and war. Archaeologists once dismissed the stories as ...
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Aztec 'death whistles,' used to prepare sacrifice victims to descend to the underworld, scramble your brain, scans reveal

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, ...
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‘Death whistles’ signaled doom for Aztec sacrifice victims. Hear the ‘screeching’

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 ...