The Aztecdeathwhistle or ehecachichtli was a whistle used by the Mexica people.[1]
The whistle first gained public notoriety after the excavation of an Aztec temple in Mexico City in the 1990s revealed a skeleton holding musical instruments including a small ceramic skull shaped whistle, subsequently referred to as the "Aztec death whistle".[2]
The idea has been popularized that hundreds of warriors would use the whistles at the same time. However, there is limited evidence to support this claim.[2] A common misconception is that this whistle produced a sharp shriek-like sound. However, these sounds credited as the Aztec death whistle are actually produced by much larger reproductions of the whistle. Music archeologist Arnd Adje Both had the opportunity to test the original excavated whistles, and reports that the actual sound produced is far softer, describing it as similar to "atmospheric noise generated by the wind."[3] Both suggests that the purpose of the whistleШаблон:Sndbased on its location at the base of a temple, its imagery related to death, and the lack of whistles ever discovered at battle sites or in warrior gravesШаблон:Sndwas far more likely to be ceremonial or religious rather than for warfare.[2] However, the symbolic purpose and actual use of the whistle requires further investigation and currently is mostly speculation.[4]
↑Both, Arnd Adje. 2006. “On the Context of Imitative and Associative Processes in Prehispanic Music,” in Ellen Hickmann, Arnd Adje Both and Ricardo Eichmann, eds., Studien zur Musikarchäologie 5, 319-32. Rahden/Westf.: Verlag Marie Leidorf.
