Researchers are recreating ancient odours for museumgoers as interest in the archaeology of smell grows

How can reconstructing long-lost smells of ancient artifacts help us connect with the past?

Archaeopress Publications

Archaeopress Publications

Recent advancements in biomolecular archaeology, such as stable isotope and ancient DNA research, have expanded our understanding of megafauna extinction pro...

Metabolic profiling of Iron Age residues from the oasis of Qurayyah, Northwest Arabia, reveals the earliest material evidence for the fumigation of the drug plant Peganum harmala, used in domestic con...

At a desert oasis in Qurayyah, the scent of tradition lingers 2,700 years later

Ein österreichisch-deutsches Forschungsteam analysierte Rückstände auf archäologischen Funden – und wies die früheste Verwendung der Pflanze vor 2700 Jahren auf der Arabischen Halbinsel nach.

A new study uses metabolic profiling to uncover ancient knowledge systems behind therapeutic and psychoactive plant use in ancient Arabia.

Metabolic profiling of Iron Age residues from the oasis of Qurayyah, Northwest Arabia, reveals the earliest material evidence for the fumigation of the drug plant Peganum harmala, used in domestic con...

Organic residues are a rich source of biomolecular information on ancient diets. In particular, foodcrusts, charred residues on ceramics, are commonly analysed for their lipid content and to a lesser ...

Narratives that invoke ancient DNA must be crafted with care, argues an archaeologist

Anonymizing job applications before shortlisting helped to boost the number of women appointed.

Nature Human Behaviour - Olfaction has profoundly shaped human experience and behaviour from the deep past through to the present day. Advanced biomolecular and ‘omics’ sciences enable...

Lipids are major constituents of food but are also highly relevant substructures of drugs and are increasingly applied for the development of lipid-based drug delivery systems. Lipids are prone to oxi...

Ancient proteins can provide phylogenetic information at a timescale that supersedes ancient DNA. Paleoproteomics could thus provide invaluable evolutionary insights, including into human evolution.

Subscribe to Curiosity Stream and start exploring the world around you! https://curiositystream.com/SciShowThe ancient Egyptians were masters of embalming th...

What if you could smell history? Well researchers at Germany's Max Planck Institute have unraveled the ancient scent of mummification used on a prominent Egyptian woman, Senetnay, around 1,450 BC.