Introduction

Archaeology is often regarded as a visual discipline. With many sites and objects trapped behind walls, cordons and glass, the visual dimension of these materials historically has been the sole point of contact for all but the most privileged visitors. Increasingly, however, that is no longer the case. New technologies are changing the way people interact with ancient treasures. VR and AR systems offer close-up experiences of heritage assets. Likewise, 3D scanning, printing and carving technology has made it possible to recreate objects and architecture with a high degree of precision, but in forms that allow visitors to have tactile experiences of these materials. The IDA first mounted a tactile exhibition at the New York Public Library in 2016. That installation included a total of seven touchable objects – complete with braille, large print, and audio exhibition guides – that explored architectural and decorative features of important ancient structures. That collection has now found a permanent home at the National Federation of the Blind national headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2016, the IDA has worked hard to expand the ways in which people access heritage materials. To that end, starting in 2018, the IDA has provided unique olfactory encounters with history.

Ephemeral Heritage

 I know every book of mine by its smell, and I have but to put my nose between the pages to be reminded of all sorts of things. - George Gissing (1888)

Heritage assets come in many forms.  Some, like ancient edifices and colossal sculptures assert a powerful physical presence. At the other end of the spectrum are purely ephemeral manifestations of culture – dance, cuisine, music – that are just as much connected to and molded by our collective past as any building or statue. From its inception, the IDA has been omnivorous in its approach to heritage preservation. Alongside imaging and physical reconstructions, the IDA has also expended considerable effort and resource observing, documenting and studying ephemeral heritage, including storytelling, traditional boatbuilding and watchmaking (to name just a few).

Now our focus is on the concept of odor as ephemeral heritage.  Smell is a complex sense that has a unique capacity to build and/or access memory. As a result of our work on ancient spices – both medicinal and culinary – we came to realize how much history and science is packed into odor. Working with archaeobotanists and olfactionists in the USA, Europe and Central Asia, we have explored heirloom cultivars of a range of traditional spice plants, recovering aromas that had been lost to the world, in some cases, for centuries. We are in the process of establishing a specimen garden that will serve as a living library of these ancient plants, preserving not just their genomes, but their remarkable scents, as well. In many cases, it was the aroma of these plants that was most important to both their medicinal and culinary uses; their history and significance simply cannot be understood or appreciated apart from their distinctive scents.

In 2019, we extended our olfactory interest to one of the most important repositories of heritage – books. As part of a growing scholarly appreciation of the book as an object, we are focusing on the smells of old books and paper ephemera as an entry point into understanding how these objects were made, who used them, how they were used, how they were stored, etc. The smell of an old book is an essential part of its history. Its unique odor speaks to the materials from which it is constructed, the environment in which it was kept, and even the life and circumstances of its prior owners.

The IDA has developed a set of olfactory experiences for upcoming exhibitions at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University and the New York Public Library. Rare books and manuscripts for those installations include Edmond Malone’s First Folio, a 1217 copy of Magna Carta, James Madison’s copy of the Federalist Papers, books from the private collections of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and a collection of rare Egyptian papyri, including fragments of one of the earliest known copies of the Iliad. Each of these has its own unique scent that speaks to its history:  Magna Carta still smells of the swamp in which it once lay, the First Folio is redolent of the butyric acid used to tan its 18th century binding, and Lewis’s books reek of the famous author’s equally famous pipe tobacco. All of these scents have been captured, catalogues and reproduced.  See https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/sensational-books

The techniques we have used for preserving book and herbal smells are infinitely versatile. Plans are already afoot to expand our growing olfactory library to include, among other things textiles, timepieces and musical instruments. The former will focus – as with books – on construction and provenance.

The IDA has several important early renaissance tapestries in its collection. Their smells bespeak the often dank environments in which they were displayed and the materials – wool, cotton and precious metal threads – from which they were constructed. The oxidation of the silver thread is plainly detectable amid the more earthy odor of the wool. 

Musical instruments offer many intriguing smells that speak to important aspects of their history.  The varnishes and glues used by different luthiers are widely thought to be key ingredients in their particular tonal flavor. All have unique scents. Old Banjos smell as much of the often-exotic hides (one instrument in the IDA collection uses groundhog hide) stretched over their metal or wooden frames as of the wood and brass of which they are primarily constructed.

Finally, our scent experiences of timepieces will emphasize the pungent smell of lubricants, a key factor in the accuracy of clocks and watches. Some chronometers make use of more than twenty-five different lubricants to keep things running smoothly. Each has its own unique olfactory notes. It is easy, for example, to smell the difference between watches lubricated to run in tropical versus cold climates. Smell has much to say about the history, use and technical dimensions of these important historical artifacts.

In 2020, the IDA will be mounting a traveling exhibition of timepieces and other horological material in partnership with the world’s oldest watchmaking firm, Vacheron Constantin. This fall, at the University of Oxford’s History of Science Museum, visitors will be able to walk through the center of enormous watch escapement to learn more about how these sophisticated machines function. That installation – part of the joint venture with Vacheron Constantin – will be augmented by olfactory elements.

The Technology

The IDA’s proprietary scent documentation process takes advantage of technologies used in perfume development, molecular gastronomy, and medical analysis. To record and reproduce the smells of physical objects, we began by using various extraction devices to capture the actual particulate discharge of target objects. These devices typically take the form of sealed chambers equipped with complex air circulation/filtration systems. Material recovered from the proprietary filters within the capture devices form the basis for scent analysis and reproduction. Using this approach assures that scent records contain actual physical material from the original object, creating a direct link with the past. 

Extracted materials are subjected to an in-depth analytical process to catalogue the physical constituents and subjective aromas of each object. It is essential to understand exactly what gives any particular item its unique flavor profile to ensure the accuracy of subsequent scent reconstructions. Old books, for example, will often release muted sweet notes of “benzaldehyde,” a chemical that is evocative of maraschino cherries. Also common are overtones of “vanillin,” a common compound in synthetic vanilla flavoring. Aged adhesives and deteriorated bindings gave off the less pleasant odors of “2-nonenal,” colloquially known as “moldy furniture smell” or “butyric acid,” a pungent compound recognizably present in Hershey’s chocolate. In short, each object has its unique chemical fingerprint.

In addition to the scents released from the item itself, there are often key aromatic profiles adopted from its environment. For example, incense may impart an additional flavor to books housed in churches, and smokers will almost certainly transmit a familiar tobacco profile to objects they own and use. These environmental elements inform the olfactory map of an item as much as the aromatic chemicals released from the objects themselves.

To deliver scent experiences, the IDA uses a medical-grade nebulizer system that creates fine “scent clouds” composed of mere micro-liters of fluid. These super-fine mists are an ideal way to experience odors. They are absorbed by the nose quickly but do not linger.  In this way, it is possible to enjoy multiple scent experiences without suffering olfactory fatigue. This system will be deployed at both the Bodleian and New York Public Library exhibitions.