A study on the suitability of 3D printed models to analyse sounds of the whistling arrows

Abstract Whistling arrows are military equipment that can make a whistling sound through their whistles, which are usually made of horns or bone. Surprisingly, this highly intriguing weapon is one of the least studied subjects in the medieval archery legacy. The reason for this might be that the whistling arrows are very difficult to manufacture and test. On the other hand, using 3D printers has by researchers to test and analyse archaeological artifacts nowadays. Likewise, the affordable prices of 3D printers and the manufacturing speed of the models are also increasing these studies. In this context, our article aims to test the hypothesis of using 3D models produced by 3D printers to overcome the difficulties in producing whistling arrows. Three different whistle types dating to the Turk Khaganate period were selected to use in the tests, and ten 3D whistle models were printed out following these typologies. All whistles were tested in the prepared test setup and their sounds were recorded and analysed.