The Archaeologists Digging Up One Of Shakespeare’s Theatres

“We found the bottom part of the whistle; the top, which is missing, would have formed a small reservoir for water with a spout for blowing through. The warbling effect is created as the air bubbles through the water. These type whistles may have been used for sound effects in theatrical performances. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, staged at the Curtain Theatre in the late sixteenth century, there are numerous references to bird song.”