Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have revealed that ancient objects can retain the molecular fingerprints of past aromatic practices. These molecules provide unprecedented insight into ancient perfumery, medicine, ritual, and daily life.
In a new publication, an interdisciplinary research team led by archaeo-chemist Barbara Huber (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology and the University of Tübingen), shows how museums can use this molecular evidence to engage audiences with the sensory worlds of the past. The team combined their expertise to create a new workflow for converting biomolecular data into accessible, visitor-ready olfactory recreations.
"This research represents a significant shift in how scientific results can be shared beyond academic publications," explains Huber.
From Data to Fragrance
The process began with a briefing, prepared by Huber in collaboration with scent-based storytelling consultant Sofia Collette Ehrich, establishing a crucial link between scientific data and perfumery practice. Building on this foundation, perfumer Carole Calvez developed a series of formulations that translated ancient chemical signatures into a scent suitable for museum environments. Calvez emphasizes that this is not a simple act of replication.
"The real challenge lies in imagining the scent as a whole," she explains. "Biomolecular data provide essential clues, but the perfumer must translate chemical information into a complete and coherent olfactory experience that evokes the complexity of the original material, rather than just its individual components."
Scent Cards and Stations: Visitors Travel Back in Time through their Noses
To demonstrate, the team developed two formats for presenting ancient scents in public settings. Using The Scent of the Afterlife, a recreation of the aromas that accompanied the ancient Egyptian mummification process , they created a portable scented card and a fixed scent diffusion station integrated into exhibition design.
At the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, where the artefacts that inspired the project are displayed, the scented card quickly became an integral part of guided tours.
"Scent provides a new approach to mummification, moving away from the scare factor and horror movie clichés towards an appreciation of the motivations behind the actions and the desired results," curators Christian E. Loeben and Ulrike Dubiel report.
The fixed scent station format was installed in the exhibition Ancient Egypt – Obsessed with Life at the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, Denmark.
"The scent station transformed how visitors understood embalming," curator Steffen Terp Laursen observes. "Smell added an emotional and sensory depth that text labels alone could never provide."
This work demonstrates how molecular traces of the past can be transformed into meaningful cultural experiences.
"We hope to offer museums compelling new tools for bringing visitors closer to past environments and practices via sensory interpretation and engagement," Sofia Collette Ehrich concludes.
