Perfume production in Antiquity

The lecture given in 2012-2013 focused on the craft of perfume in antiquity. The study of this important sector of economic life, which generated a luxury trade as early as the Archaic period, was motivated by the discovery and excavation of several perfumers' workshops in Greece and Italy (Paestum, Pompeii). The experience acquired through this research has enabled us to carry out in-depth critiques of installations that were sometimes wrongly interpreted as perfumeries. The lecture also provided an opportunity to trace the evolution of ancient perfumes, systematically study their uses and review the documentation on perfumers' workshops from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity