July 11, 2008 | category:
culture ,
science 
Scientists were fascinated by the ghostly find: a human skeleton buried in an Aztec temple with a clay, skull-shaped whistle in each bony hand.
But no one blew into the noisemakers for nearly 15 years. When someone finally did, the shrill, windy screech made the spine tingle.
If death had a sound, this was it.
Roberto Velazquez believes the Aztecs played this mournful wail from the so-called Whistles of Death before they were sacrificed to the gods.
The 66-year-old mechanical engineer has devoted his career to recreating the sounds of his pre-Columbian ancestors, producing hundreds of replicas of whistles, flutes and wind instruments unearthed in Mexico’s ruins.
For years, many archaeologists who uncovered ancient noisemakers dismissed them as toys. Museums relegated them to warehouses. But while most studies and exhibits of ancient cultures focus on how they looked, Velazquez said the noisemakers provide a rare glimpse into how they sounded.
Click to hear some of the spine-tingling sounds of the ancient Aztecs
“We’ve been looking at our ancient culture as if they were deaf and mute,” he said. “But I think all of this is tied closely to what they did, how they thought.”
Velazquez is part of a growing field of study that includes archaeologists, musicians and historians. Medical doctors are interested too, believing the Aztecs may have used sound to treat illnesses.
continue reading researcher plays the aztec whistles of death
May 21, 2008 | category:
culture ,
movies ,
paranormal 
This Thursday marks the premier of the new Indiana Jones movie: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The focal point of each Indy adventure wraps around something fantastic and educational about different cultures and their history. As the title of the new film implies, crystal skulls offer the main course of intrigue to the story. Though it will include the garnish of effects and modern-day entertainment, there is a realistic pulp of information that acts as a binding agent.
The 13 crystal skulls of world (outside of cinema) have a rich and deep past stemming from central and south america. There are many debates and claims as to their true purpose, with specific stories influencing the concepts of the movie directly. The physically documented scientific properties of some skulls are a marvel of construction, contradicting the technology available at their time. Where do the lines between fabrication and fact bleed into one another’s territory? Read on and draw your own conclusions.
One of archeology’s most compelling mysteries is that of the 13 Crystal Skulls. Skulls have been one of the most powerful objects of symbolism in human history, all over the world. Together, they form a mystery as enigmatic as the Nazca Lines, the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge.
These skulls are believed to be between 5000 and 35000 years old. During early expeditions, archaeologists were told by locals that the skulls possessed magical powers and healing properties. However, people were unsure as to where they came from, or even why they existed.
Some like to believe that these were remains from the lost civilization of Atlantis. Others like to believe these are fakes. And yet another group of psychics believe that these skulls have the capability to enable us to look into the past, present and future.
Historians and social anthropologists decided to find out more about the strange skulls. Very soon, they came across an ancient Indian legend saying that there had been thirteen crystal skulls of the Goddess of Death; they had been kept separately from each other under the strict control of pagan priests and special warriors.
Searches for more skulls started; some of them were found in museums and some in private collections not only in the USA, but in Mexico, Brazil, France, Mongolia, and in Tibet. There were more than 13 skulls found. However, not all of them were as perfect as Mitchell-Hedges- was. Very likely, those were just later attempts to create something similar to the original skulls that were believed to have been gifts by God to the people.
The very construction and make of the skulls defies common logic. There are several crystal skulls in existence today around the world. We start off with the most famous one: The Mitchell-Hedges Skull.
continue reading indiana jones and the 13 crystal skulls
