Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) is a Danish regional museum dedicated to archaeology and ethnography. It is located in Beder, a suburb of Aarhus, Denmark.MOMU cooperates with the Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology and Anthropology at Aarhus University. The main part of the museum's archaeological collection is of Danish origin. In addition, the Ethnographical Collections contain almost 50,000 artifacts from all over the world. They are used both for research and exhibitions. The collection also contains photographic material, films and sound recordings. The museum's exhibitions presents several unrivaled archaeological findings from Denmark's ancient past, among others the Grauballe Man, the world's best preserved bog body and the large ritual weapon caches from Illerup Ådal, testifying the power struggles and warfare of the Iron Age. The collection also contains seven local rune stones.Temporary exhibitions at the museum also display examples of the world's cultural heritage.
Recent advances in biomolecular archaeology have enabled the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odor-active metabolites in archaeological materials, revealing the scents and olfactory environments of the ancient world. These developments offer new opportunities to reconstruct the sensory worlds of the past through their molecular signatures, from perfumery, ritual and medicinal practices to aspects of daily life. Yet their integration into museums and public cultural heritage initiatives remains limited. This paper explores how biomolecular data on past scents can be transformed into multisensory museum experiences, focusing on the Scent of the Afterlife, an olfactory reproduction based on the biomolecular analysis of a 3,500 year old Egyptian mummification balm. Developed collaboratively by archaeologists, chemists, curators, a perfumer, and an olfactory heritage consultant, the project translated chemical evidence into a historically informed scent. Two museological applications are presented: a scented card for mobile diffusion and a fixed scent station integrated into the exhibition Ancient Egypt-Obsessed with Life at the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, Denmark. We argue that olfactory reproductions bridge scientific research and cultural heritage, offering tools for education and public outreach. By situating biomolecular data within sensory and curatorial frameworks, this study outlines a pathway toward a multisensory archaeology.
Abstract This chapter traces developments in the study of ancient plant remains in China over the last century with a particular focus on the last 40 years. Although analyses of ancient plant remains in China occurred in the 1960s, archaeobotany developed into a fully-fledged discipline only after the turn of the 21st century. We illustrate the main actors in the establishment and development of the discipline in China, the development of research trends, and how these were impacted by the overall political landscape and research directions in archaeology. We also retrace the institutionalisation of the teaching and practice of archaeobotany. We explore how general developments in archaeological practice have contributed to archaeobotanical research, archaeobotanists’ shifts in research, and the reasons behind these changes. We also analyse the contribution archaeobotanical practice has made to Chinese archaeology and the place of Chinese archaeobotany in global trends. Although archaeobotany initially focused on the origins of agriculture and the domestication of the main plant species, today research has expanded to include historical periods, the evolution of diet, cooking practices, and other topics. The chapter anticipates that the tremendous progress made in the discipline in recent decades will continue, with more and more studies published each year. Finally, we set out future directions and highlight the need to integrate multiple disciplines in the study of ancient plant remains and to develop reference collections for improving identification beyond the major staple crops.
ABSTRACT This article examines the role of nonhuman animals in war as represented in the palace reliefs found at the late Neo-Assyrian capital of Nineveh. Horses, mules/donkeys, camels, cattle, birds, sheep, and goats are depicted as fighting and dying alongside humans, preying on dead bodies, being killed for divination and meat, providing transport for goods and people, and as taken away from their homes as part of the loot of the Assyrian victors. Much attention has been directed at the broader social, political, and economic implications of war in the Neo-Assyrian period, including the effect on conquered cities and peoples. The impact on nonhuman animal lives is less often considered, despite their large numbers and evident participation in these events. This article is a deliberate attempt to decenter the human aspect and instead focus on and acknowledge the experience of nonhuman animals, as reconstructed from their representations in the palace reliefs.
Background Archaeobotanists and palaeoecologists use geometric morphometrics extensively to identify plant opal phytoliths. Particularly when applied to assemblages of phytoliths from concentrations retrieved from closed contexts, morphometric data from archaeological phytoliths compared with similar data from reference material can allow taxonomic attribution. Observer variation is one aspect of phytolith morphometry that has received little attention but might be an important source of error and a potential cause of misidentification of plant remains.Scope To investigate inter- and intra-observer variation in phytolith morphometry, eight researchers (observers) from different laboratories measured 50 samples each from three phytolith morphotypes (Bilobate, Bulliform flabellate and Elongate dendritic) three times, under the auspices of the International Committee for Phytolith Morphometrics (ICPM).Methods Data for 17 size and shape variables were collected for each phytolith by manually digitizing a phytolith outline (mask) from a photograph, followed by measurement of the mask with open-source morphometric software.Key results Inter-observer variation ranged from 0 to 23 % difference from the mean of all observers. Intra-observer variation ranged from 0 to 9 % difference from the mean of individual observers per week. Inter- and intra-observer variation was generally higher among inexperienced researchers.Conclusions Scaling errors were a major cause of variation and occurred more with less experienced researchers, which is likely to be related to familiarity with data collection. The results indicate that inter- and intra-observer variation can be reduced substantially by providing clear instructions for and training with the equipment, photograph capturing, software, data collection and data cleaning. In this paper, the ICPM provides recommendations to minimize variation. Advances in automatic data collection might eventually reduce inter- and intra-observer variation, but until this is common practice, the ICPM recommends that phytolith morphometric analyses adhere to standardized guidelines to assure that measured phytolith variables are accurate, consistent and comparable between different researchers and laboratories.
