With a love of human forfeit , warfare , andtowers made out of human skulls , the ancient Aztecs certainly knew how to have playfulness . Just to add to the excitement , the pre - Columbian conglomerate - builders may have conducted some of their favorite activities to the speech sound of skull - forge whistle , which produced a horrifying " death scream " that sent chills down the spine of all who heard it .
For the first time , researchers have now psychoanalyze the effect of these macabre pipe on modern listener ’ brains , find oneself that the sound puts the audile cerebral mantle on mellow alert .
“ Human auditor in our experimentation scab skull whistle vocalize as very electronegative and specifically labeled them largely as chilling and aversive , which potentially also trigger urgent response tendency and step in with on-going genial physical process , ” publish the study authors . Using a series of neuroimaging techniques , the researcher found that this subjective experience was tie to “ very specific brain activity ” within downcast - order auditory cortical part that respond to scary disturbance .
Numerous examples of Aztec skull whistles have been find in graves date between 1250 and 1521 CE . Made of clay , these small-scale instrument are typically craft into the form of a human skull and are designed to allow for the hit of legion airstream , resulting in a “ strident , piercing , andscream - same soundquality . ”
Sometimes call “ death whistles ” , the ancient shriekers are speculated to have been used in warfare to terrorise adversary on the battlefield . The fact that they are regularly found alongside the skeleton ofsacrifice victims , meanwhile , has fuelled proposition that the whistles might have had more of a ceremonial function .
For instance , some experts believe the death whistles were intended to mimic the razor - sharp winds of Mictlan , the Aztec underworld to which sacrificial tributes were believed to fall . Others think the sound was entail to symbolise Ehecatl , the Aztec God of the Wind , who created humanity from the bones of the dead .
To gain a deeper insight into how the whistle might have been used , the study author conducted a series of psychoacoustic experiments using innovative - daylight European volunteer . Recording player ’ neuronal and psychological response to hearing the death scream , the investigator obtain that the brain struggles to classify the auditory sensation , which was perceived as as “ let a intercrossed natural - unreal origin . ”
“ Skull whistle sound attract mental care by affectively mimicking other aversive and startling sounds produced by nature and applied science , ” compose the authors . “ We what is more found that skull whistle sound received a specific decoding of the affective significance in the neuronic audile system of human listeners , accompanied by higher - order audile cognition and symbolic valuation in fronto - parochial - parietal mastermind systems , ” they write .
In other word , theterrifying ambiguityof the death whistle plain ignites the imagery as the mind struggles to pinpoint the symbolic meaning of the sound . The researchers therefore reason that the whistles ’ “ usage in ritual context seems very likely , especially in sacrificial rite and ceremonies related to the dead . ”
For example , they speculate that “ skull whistle might have been used to scare the human sacrifice or the ceremonial audience . ”
The study is publish in the journalCommunications Psychology .
