Museums are now letting visitors smell the past by reconstructing ancient fragrances through chemical analysis and AI-powered odor recognition. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute chemically analyzed embalming residues from a 1450 BCE Egyptian canopic jar and worked with perfumers to recreate the original scent, described as a warm, honey-like aroma with earthy and spicy notes. Meanwhile, scientists are developing AI-powered electronic noses using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that could detect disease, monitor air quality, and enhance industrial safety.

How Is Olfactory Archaeology Bringing Ancient Smells Back to Life?

The field of olfactory archaeology has emerged over the past decade as researchers shifted their focus from visual artifacts alone to recreating the full sensory environment of the past. A team led by Barbara Huber, a postdoctoral researcher in archaeochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Germany, described this work as a "time machine for the nose." The team detected multiple aromatic components in mummy embalming residues, including beeswax, resins from coniferous trees, and coumarin, a crystalline compound with a vanilla-like scent.

Recent reconstructions of smell differ from earlier, purely experiential displays in that they are grounded in rigorous chemical analysis, documentary research, and collaboration among experts from multiple disciplines. The reconstructed Egyptian fragrance is already being used in actual exhibitions. At an ancient Egyptian exhibition in Denmark, fragrance cards and ceramic containers holding scent cartridges were placed in the gallery so visitors could smell them directly. The JORVIK Viking Centre in York, UK, has for many years recreated the smells of a Viking Age town, and researchers have even attempted to simulate the breath odor of Tyrannosaurus rex based on fossil evidence and consultation with paleontologists.

A team led by Cecilia Bembibre at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage has also reconstructed and exhibited the smells of the library at St Paul's Cathedral and the interior of a Rover P5B once used by Queen Elizabeth II. To revive the smell of the car, they drew on historical research, chemical analysis of the air inside the vehicle, and interviews with classic car collectors. This multidisciplinary approach demonstrates how smell can unlock new perspectives on heritage and history.

What Role Is AI Playing in Detecting and Analyzing Odors Today?

Beyond reconstructing vanished smells, scientists are developing technologies that enable machines to sense and distinguish the odors that surround us today. A research team led by Professor Hyuk-Jun Kwon of the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology) has outlined future directions for an artificial olfactory system that detects smells like the human nose and analyzes them with AI, using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The team systematically organized the core research trends in electronic nose technology, from MOF material design and sensor implementation to AI-based odor pattern recognition. The results were published in June 2026 in the international journal Progress in Materials Science.

"Smells are invisible and fade over time. Yet by analyzing chemical substances preserved in artifacts, we can reconstruct the fragrances that people smelled thousands of years ago, and by using sensors and AI, we can read the odor patterns that exist around us today," explained researchers at DGIST.

Professor Hyuk-Jun Kwon, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at DGIST

Electronic noses are evolving beyond simple odor detection toward distinguishing patterns of smell by using AI to analyze the chemical information received by sensors. This advancement represents a significant shift in how machines can interact with the chemical world around us.

How Can Electronic Nose Technology Be Applied Across Industries?

• Healthcare and Disease Diagnosis: MOF-based electronic nose technology could detect biomarkers in breath or other bodily odors, enabling early diagnosis of diseases before symptoms appear.
• Air Quality and Industrial Safety Monitoring: Electronic noses can continuously monitor air quality in factories, offices, and public spaces, detecting hazardous chemicals or pollutants that pose risks to human health.
• Smart Agriculture and Environmental Sensing: The technology can assess soil health, detect crop diseases, and monitor environmental conditions in real-time for autonomous vehicles and robots.
• Chemical Environment Detection: Electronic noses can identify specific chemical signatures in industrial settings, helping prevent accidents and ensure worker safety.

The team predicts that MOF-based electronic nose technology could expand into these diverse fields, fundamentally changing how we monitor our environment and detect potential dangers. Unlike traditional sensors that detect single compounds, AI-powered electronic noses can recognize complex odor patterns, much like the human olfactory system.

Olfactory archaeology, which revives the smells of the past, and electronic noses, which detect and analyze present-day odors, may appear to belong to different domains, but they share a common premise: treating smell as a form of information. A time is approaching when visitors will experience history by directly smelling the past in museums, and machines will discriminate odors on behalf of humans to detect disease or danger signals. The realm of science and technology, once limited to seeing with our eyes and hearing with our ears, is now expanding into the domain of smell experience.