An Aztec Death Whistle

Today on CNN, there's an amazing article about a guy who reproduces the sounds of ancient Aztec musical instruments, including a couple of skull whistles found in the bony clutches of a skeleton. There's a link from the article to the sounds of this whistle and several others. The death whistle is downright creepy, sounding like a screaming woman. Other whistles in the shapes of animals sound a lot like those animals. The frog whistle is spot on. The researcher, Roberto Velazquez, is a mechanical engineer. He makes a really good point when he says that archaeologists tend to look at ancient cultures like they were deaf and dumb. The ancient world was full of sounds and music, and these were as much a part of their daily lives as they are today. Cool article, and a cool line of research that's broadening our knowledge of the past.