Side view (left) | Photographer: Claudia Obrocki | Rights management: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
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Noise whistle. Height 4.5 cm. Grey body, remains of white painting (engobe?). Late Postclassic (ca. 1350-5121 AD). Origin High Valley of Mexico. Uhde Collection. Noise pipes of the same type were found in sacrificial depots dedicated to Quetzalcoatl in Tlatelolco, Mexico City. The instruments were also built into the end of the handles of Aztec incense burners, which symbolise Xiuhcoatl ("fire serpent"). The wind noise that can be produced on them was possibly associated with the cold obsidian knife winds of the underworld. In addition to skulls (mictlantecuhtli?), these instruments also depict owls, nocturnal animals associated with the underworld. What is striking about this piece is the application on both sides, possibly representing paper jewellery, and the teeth inserted into the nasal sheath, which indicates the close conceptual connection between smell and sound. (Adje Both, 2004)
