In 2013, a video of a man
holding a skull-shaped instrument he calls a “death whistle”
began making the rounds on YouTube.
(whistle shrieks)
Once played, the death whistle sound
is immediately unsettling.
When I heard it for the first time,
the sounds that were produced through the whistle,
it's a shriek of death.
In fact, the significance behind
this disturbing sound has perplexed scholars for years.
What was this death whistle, and what was its purpose?
In Mexico City, while archaeologists were unearthing
the remains of an ancient Aztec temple,
they made an exciting discovery.
–This was an enormous finding.
They found a human sacrifice, a male skeleton,
that had been interred for 500 years.
–But it was the relics hidden inside
the skeleton's hands that would lead to years of intrigue.
–The person had been beheaded.
The arms are crossed in front of his chest,
and in each of the hands was found these instruments,
which are called “death whistles.”
–For nearly 15 years,
these ancient instruments lay silent
before finally being given a voice.
–The archaeologists who excavated these instruments—
they never dared to play them, to test them, to try them.
So I was the first person who actually played
these original sound artifacts.
(whistle shrieks)
–But how could these tiny objects
produce such ghastly shrieks?
–There are different air streams
generated within the structure of these instruments,
which then diametrically hits against each other.
And thus, the Aztecs were able to produce
a very shrill and noisy sound.
–Still the question remained,
what was the purpose of these artifacts?
Theories abounded in academic circles.
–The Aztecs were known for their warfare,
their military, for the conquests.
During times of war, there were these large wooden drums
that were played as an army would advance.
It's even documented that the Spaniards
would hear this drumming sound,
as they were fighting against the Aztecs.
They said that those were sounds coming from hell.
–With this in mind, some experts theorized
the death whistles could have been used in a similar way.
You can imagine the frightening sound if you had 200
or 300 or 5,000 warriors blowing these instruments
and drums and trumpets as they were advancing.
That would be extremely intimidating.
–Though a convincing theory
for the whistles' purpose, other experts felt they were used
for quite a different reason.
–It's a very interesting theory that the Aztec
death whistles could have been used in a therapeutic context
to overcome certain illnesses.
It was meant to create this kind of hypnotic,
sort of soothing atmosphere,
in which one could relax and be comforted.
–But it was the Aztecs' practice
of human sacrifice that archaeologists ultimately felt
was the key to the mystery of the death whistles.
–The burial of this male skeleton
wasn't done in an arbitrary or haphazard way.
It was strategically placed
right in front of the structure of the wind god, Ehecatl.
It was human sacrifice.
It was meant for him to take these whistles
and blow through them, so that the spirit of the wind
could take him through the underworld safely.
So there was this very dark side to it, gruesome side to it.
But there's this very beautiful and blissful,
divine part of this whole experience.
–While their exact purpose remains a mystery,
these whistles, once thought to be trinkets
and relegated to museum archives,
are being given their due as works of cultural significance.
And 500 years later, the whistle still has the power
to unnerve anyone who hears its sound.
(whistle shrieks)