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I'd recommend the inquirer read a paper entitled "Whistling in Antiquity" written in 2000 by Professor A. V. van Stekelenburg of the Department of Ancient Studies at the University of Stellenbosch.

Another excellent resource is the work of Dr. Ziye Fan, Professor of Chinese at Heilongjiang University. His in-depth research focuses specifically on Ancient Chinese whistling.

In addition to Professor van Stekelenburg and Professor Fan's writings you will find references to whistling in the Old Testament (in the writings of Isaiah and Zechariah), as well as in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Some historians theorize that whistling preceded speech in early humans. In fact, whistling has, for centuries, been used as a language in the Canary Archipelago, in France, Mexico and in Turkey among other places. El Silbo, the whistled language of the Canary Islands can still be heard today on the island of Gomera.

For more information about the history of whistling, one may contact Jim Voltz, a whistling historian, based in Washington DC.

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14y ago

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