Neuroscience researchers from the University of Zurich have published in the journal ‘Communications Psychology’ a study about the disturbing effect that the popularly called ‘death whistles’ have on the brains of numerous volunteers. These ceramic objects produce a penetrating sound similar to that of a human scream. Scientists maintain that the Aztecs may have deliberately used this effect in sacrificial rituals, an impact that is magnified by its skull-like shape and is still alive today. And it is capable of generating an ominous reaction for the ear because It has a particular instrumental construction. “Listeners described these sounds as extremely chilling and terrifying,” even though they knew their origin, they say in a statement.
A headless skeleton and several theories
These skull whistles were found at the end of the 20th century in temples in Mexico Cityin sites from the Aztec era. Some disturbing objects that have since generated debate about what their true purpose could be, since in addition to a scream, if blown with less force it can also generate the sound of a whisper. This object was called “Ehecachichtli”, which comes from combining the name of the wind god Ehecatl and the death god Mictlantecuhtli.
Some considered that It was used as a deterrent weapon against the enemy in times of war. However, no writings have been found to support this theory. Others considered the possibility that it was used in human sacrifice. There are experts who indicate that its function was replicate the wind of Mictlanthe Aztec underworld filled with deadly, razor-sharp, piercing winds to which sacrificed victims went. The fact that the first whistle was found in the hand of a headless skeleton, which was the victim of a sacrifice, has served as an argument to favor this theory.
A unique capability
Now, a team led by Sascha Frühholz, professor of Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, made 3D digital copies of original whistles from the Ethnological Museum in Berlin. «The whistles have a very unique construction and We do not know of any musical instrument comparable to other cultures pre-Columbian or other historical and contemporary contexts,” says Frühholz. Its interior is divided into several acoustic chambers and the “scream” is produced by the collision of different air currents through these cavities.
Human sacrifice with original skull whistle (small red box and enlarged view) discovered between 1987 and 1989 at the temple of Ehécatl-Quetzalcóatl in Mexico City, Mexico; b Three original specimens of skull whistles from the collection of the Berlin Ethnological Museum (Staatliche Mussen zu Berlin, Germany; photo by Claudia Obrocki); e Digitization and 3D reconstruction of the skull whistle replicas using CT scans of the replicas.
The research team also obtained recordings of sounds from original Aztec whistles, as well as hand-made replicas. They clarify that obtaining sound recordings with different levels of air pressure ensured that the acoustic analysis was not biased towards a certain sound quality of the skull whistle. With this material he monitored the emotional reactions of the volunteers, observing negative emotional responses and an increase in neuronal activity in the auditory cortex. “Skull whistle sounds are unambiguous in their affective nature, but are rather ambiguous in the determination of their sound origin,” the study states.
The brain regions belonging to the affective neural system responded loudly at the sound, which once again confirmed its intimidating nature. But the team also observed brain activity in regions that associate sounds with symbolic meaning. This suggests a “hybrid” nature of these sounds.
From the Swiss university they explain that the most interesting thing is that human listeners perceived the sound of the Aztec whistle as partially natural and organic in origin, like a human voice or scream. Which disorients the brain and sharpens your imagination “This is consistent with the tradition of many ancient cultures of capturing natural sounds on musical instruments, and could explain the ritual dimension of the sound of the death whistle for imitate mythological entities«, details Frühholz.
In this way the whistle is terrifying, “even if on a conscious level the person knows that it comes from a whistle. As it is similar to a human scream, more specifically that of a woman, due to its high pitch, it activates a primordial reaction of fear, but at the same time there is something unnatural in it that makes it even more disturbing for our brain, indicate the experts of ‘National Geographic’. In the end, what we have is an artifact that combines a basic psychoaffective influence on listeners with more elaborate mental processes. An advance in an instrument that still continues to generate numerous questions.
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