Science Friday

How Archaeologists Try To Smell, Hear, And Taste The Past

October 8, 2025

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  • Experimental archaeology, also called experiential or living archaeology, brings the past alive by recreating ancient tools, foods, and processes, offering a sensory-rich learning experience often lacking in traditional archaeology. 
  • Ancient peoples possessed sophisticated practical knowledge, demonstrated by experiments like using ash as a tick repellent in bedding or Roman concrete's self-healing properties, which were initially mistaken for errors. 
  • The tedious and difficult nature of recreating ancient tasks, such as brain tanning a deer hide or making stone tools, provides a deeper appreciation for the effort, skill, and mindset required for survival and creation in the past. 

Segments

Defining Experimental Archaeology
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(00:01:27)
  • Key Takeaway: Experimental archaeology involves recreating ancient tools, foods, and structures to gain sensory-rich knowledge about past life.
  • Summary: Experimental archaeologists recreate ancient artifacts, foods, and even sail ancient ships to make the past sensory-rich through taste, smell, and sound. This approach includes activities like making stone tools, launching catapults, and even attempting DIY mummies. The practice is sometimes referred to as experiential or living archaeology.
Challenges of Ancient Crafting
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(00:03:44)
  • Key Takeaway: Recreating ancient processes like brain tanning leather is frustrating and tedious, highlighting the difficulty of past life.
  • Summary: The author experienced significant frustration while brain tanning a deer hide, noting the heat, flies, and tedious work involved in the multi-day process. This difficulty provided an educational insight into how challenging daily life was for ancient peoples. The effort invested in making an item also fosters a greater appreciation for its value and longevity.
Failed Salmon Tanning Experiment
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(00:04:38)
  • Key Takeaway: An attempt to urine-tan salmon skin, an ancient preservation method, resulted in a foul-smelling failure.
  • Summary: The experiment involved soaking salmon skin in urine as an ancient method to preserve it for patching boots or other uses. The process yielded an awful, foul-smelling mess and did not successfully preserve the skin. Despite the failure, the author valued the attempt to test historical techniques.
Ancient Bedding Comfort and Pest Control
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(00:05:27)
  • Key Takeaway: 75,000-year-old African cave bedding included ash layers used for comfort and as a barrier to kill or incapacitate ticks.
  • Summary: Scientists recreated ancient bedding found in an African cave, which consisted of ash layered beneath aromatic leaves. Experiments showed that ticks struggled to cross the ash layer, often dying or having their mouthparts gummed up, preventing bites. The aromatic leaves likely served to repel mosquitoes, demonstrating ancient practical chemistry.
Precision in Stone Tool Making
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(00:09:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Making stone spearheads requires surprising precision, far beyond simply crashing rocks together, as demonstrated by an expert hitting a marked fracture point exactly.
  • Summary: The author was humbled by the precision required to knap stone tools, contrasting it with the simplistic notion of just hitting rocks together. An archaeologist demonstrated the skill by hitting a cobble on a marked dot, causing a fracture exactly along a pre-drawn line on the opposite side. This level of accuracy suggests techniques were likely passed down through teaching.
DIY Fish Mummification Process
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(00:10:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Egyptian-style mummification is easily achieved using natron, a natural mineral mixture of baking soda and salt, to dehydrate flesh.
  • Summary: The Egyptians mummified animals on a massive scale, not just humans. The core preservation technique involves dehydration using natron, which is easily replicated by mixing equal parts baking soda and salt. This simple mixture effectively preserved a fish even during a hot, humid Washington D.C. summer.
Self-Healing Roman Concrete
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(00:12:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Roman concrete’s longevity is attributed to intentionally left chunks of undigested lime that react with water to self-heal cracks.
  • Summary: Scientists discovered that undigested lime chunks in Roman concrete, previously thought to be mixing errors, create a self-healing material. When water enters a crack, it reacts with these lime pieces, causing new concrete to form and seal the damage. This clever system explains why structures like the Pantheon remain standing.
Best Ancient Food Experience
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(00:17:00)
  • Key Takeaway: Ancient Egyptian bread, recreated using dormant yeast from old molds and heirloom grains, was described as the best bread the author has ever tasted.
  • Summary: The author’s most enjoyable experience was tasting ancient Egyptian bread made by Seamus Blackley, the inventor of the Xbox. Blackley meticulously sourced ancient heirloom grains, dormant yeast from Egyptian molds, and appropriate wood to recreate the bread authentically. The resulting sourdough, flavored with coriander, was deemed delicious even when reheated.
Challenging Archaeological Views
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(00:19:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Experimental archaeology excites younger archaeologists by offering an active, question-generating alternative to traditional, tedious fieldwork.
  • Summary: Experimental archaeology challenged the author’s view of archaeology as often tedious fieldwork involving toothbrushes and pot shards. This active approach generates new questions and insights, making it exciting for the younger generation entering the field. While traditional archaeologists show skepticism, there is growing acceptance of experimental methods as a valuable tool.