Sensory archaeology: the smells of Pompeii

[guy]

 

This article was already highlighted in the UNRV newsletter. It reminded me about previous discussions (see post below). It is a good example of sensory archaeology, the branch of archaeology that studies how people in the past experienced the world through their senses (smell, sound, touch, taste, and sight) rather than focusing on objects, architecture, and objects.

The article also shows how small residue samples can reveal global economic connections and domestic religious behavior. 
 

Pompeii Incense Study

• Researchers analyzed 2,000-year-old ash residues preserved inside two Roman incense burners from Pompeii and a nearby villa.

Techniques like GC-MS and phytolith analysis allowed researchers to identify burned substances and confirm they were heated intentionally.

What the ash contained was determined by advanced biomolecular and microscopic techniques:

• Local plant materials (wood, grasses, possibly laurel or fruit trees)

• Exotic aromatic resins from the Burseraceae family-plants native to tropical Africa or Asia and related to frankincense/ elemi
• Chemical traces of grape products, likely wine, consistent with ritual libations

Provides the first direct physical evidence of what Romans actually burned in household religious rituals.

• Confirms that imported incense was used not only by elites but in ordinary domestic shrines (lararia).
• Shows that ritual practice involved intentional heating/ burning, verified through biomolecular and microscopic analysis.

Implications for global trade

The presence of African/Asian resins in ordinary households shows:

• Pompeii was deeply connected to long-distance trade networks
• Imported luxury goods were accessible even to non-elite
  residents
• Trade routes likely linked India, Arabia, sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, and Mediterranean ports before reaching Italy

The study is a major contribution to sensory archaeology, reconstructing ancient smells, materials, and ritual experiences.

https://arkeonews.net/sacred-smoke-and-global-trade-pompeiis-ash-reveals-a-2000-year-old-network/

 

 

 

Edited April 10 by guy

[guy]

 

This is the scholarly article on the study of the two vessels preserved from the Vesuvius explosion in AD 79. The residue of these two incense burners was analyzed and one vessel supported the extensive trade with possibly either India or Sub-Saharan Africa.

Above is the incense burner from Pompeii.

 

 

Above is the incense burner pictured in situ above at Boscoreale, about 2 km (1.2 miles) from Pompeii. Below is the Boscoreale vessel.

 

 

The article shows that Pompeian household incense burners contained local woods and plants, but the Boscoreale vessel held imported Burseraceae resin (likely Canarium/elemi) — material that came from either sub‑Saharan Africa or India. This is the first archaeological proof that global incense trade reached everyday Pompeian domestic ritual.

 

 

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/ashes-from-pompeii-incense-burners-residue-analyses-and-domestic-cult-practices/CDE44811873BBC667EC3E7A19042EC62

Edited May 29 by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

There's several examples in the lit. of observations of those "wild boys" supposedly raised by wolves in 19th century France (why is it always France?) Presented with various substances, they would inquisitively  sniff them and not react with aversion as a "civilized" person would be expected to.....Apparently we are taught in childhood that certain odors are to be considered repulsive. Note that dogs & cats will sniff at droppings and not exhibit any emotional response.

Before storm sewers and plumbing, particularly in the larger towns & cities, the air must have been ripe with aromas, and probably no one thought much about it. As George Burns once said about his lousy Vaudeville act- "if I didn't hear booing. I thought something was wrong."

https://youtu.be/R3RRk-a0wLM?si=IfzsAWCWTLstM5fV. Roma Sordida-- Filthy Rome

Edited June 4 by guidoLaMoto