This mask, which is on display at the British Museum in London, is one of several turquoise objects that the Spanish ...

We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? The Aztec death whistle is a mesoamerican instrument designed to imitate a human scream, and was often used during battle or at ...

But in the forests of central Mexico, a single note from an Aztec whistle didn’t always indicate celebration — it meant death. “Death whistles,” or Aztec skull whistles, were short ...

This ritual ensured the Aztec civilization was renewed for another half century. The darker turquoise mosaic pieces on the cheeks and nose of the mask appear to form a butterfly, another symbol of ...