28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Researchers identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume more than 2,000 years old

A research team at the University of Cordoba has identified, for the first time, the composition of a Roman perfume more than 2,000 years old.

Everything began in 2019 during the renovation of a structure in the Carmona municipality of Seville. Archaeological remains were discovered, and the workers informed the town hall. What was discovered was a mausoleum from 2,000 years ago with eight niches that was “in magnificent condition” because it had never been looted. The remains of six members of a wealthy family were interred in the communal grave. And there were various offerings on them, one of which was a quartz container with “a solid mass inside.” They belonged to the niche of a woman in her 40s.

That bottle, which had been wrapped in a cloth bag of which remains were still left and was accompanied by amber stones, was taken to the laboratory and since then it has been analyzed by a team of researchers.

One of the amphora’s unique features is that it was carved in quartz, a very hard, resistant, and unusual material. At the time, ointments were made of glass, and the researchers claim that by using this other material, they are dealing with an item that was “highly sought-after and expensive.”

Place where the ointment where found. Photo: University of Córdoba
Place where the ointment where found. Photo: University of Córdoba

In addition to the uniqueness of the receptacle, the truly extraordinary aspect of the find was that it was perfectly sealed, and that the solid residues of the perfume had been preserved inside, which made it possible to carry out this study.

The FQM346 research team at the University of Cordoba, led by Professor of Organic Chemistry José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, in collaboration with the City of Carmona, has chemically described the components of a perfume dating from the first century AD.

The results were published in the Swiss scientific journal Heritage in an article in which Ruiz Arrebola, the municipal archaeologist of Carmona, Juan Manuel Román; and UCO researchers Daniel Cosano and Fernando Lafontshare the whole technical and scientific process enabling the world to”smell” the bygone Roman Empire.

Ruiz Arrebola stresses that the use of dolomite, a type of carbon, as a stopper, and the bitumen used to seal it, were the key to the magnificent state of preservation of the piece and its contents.

Detail of the perfume stopper. Photo: University of Córdoba
Detail of the perfume stopper. Photo: University of Córdoba

Researchers to ascertain what the perfume was made of, different instrumental techniques were used, such as X-ray diffraction and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, among others.

With respect to the perfume, two components have been identified: a base or binder, which allowed for the preservation of the aromas, and the essence itself, these findings according with descriptions by none other than Pliny the Elder. In this case, the base was a vegetable oil; possibly, according to some indications reflected in the analysis, olive oil, although this point could not be confirmed with certainty.

According to the results of chemical analyses carried out by the University of Cordoba, Rome smelled of patchouli, an essential oilobtained from a plant of Indian origin, Pogostemon cablin, widely used in modern perfumery, and whose usein Roman times was not known.

The monumental characteristics of the tomb where it was found and, above all, the material of which the vessel containing it was made, suggest that it was a highly valuable product.

University of Cordoba

Related Articles

1,400-year-old temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings discovered at Suffolk royal settlement

21 November 2023

21 November 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered a possibly pre-Christian temple from the time of the East Anglian Kings at Rendlesham, near Sutton Hoo...

A unique gold brooch talisman with inscriptions in Latin and Hebrew was found in the UK

19 February 2022

19 February 2022

A Medieval gold annular brooch with prayerful inscriptions has been discovered in the parish of Manningford in Wiltshire, in the...

Archaeologists Uncover Rare Trojan War-Era Armor from 1200 BCE in Czechia

22 July 2025

22 July 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery in South Moravia has brought new insights into Bronze Age Europe and its warrior elites. The...

Japan’s possibly oldest stone molds for bronze casting discovered at Yoshinogari ruins

4 December 2023

4 December 2023

At the Yoshinogari Ruins in the western prefecture of Saga, relics including stone casting molds for bronze artifacts have been...

Archaeologists discovered on Tunisian coast three shipwrecks, one of which 2,000 years old

8 June 2023

8 June 2023

A team of archaeologists from eight countries—Algeria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Italy, Morocco, Spain, and Tunisia bordering the Mediterranean Sea has...

Women May Have Ruled El Algar in the Bronze Age

12 March 2021

12 March 2021

The diadem found in the Bronze Age tomb belonging to the El Algar culture may have belonged to a queen....

Archaeologists discover innovative 40,000-year-old culture in China

2 March 2022

2 March 2022

Ancient hunter-gatherers living in what is now China may have been the first people in East Asia to process mustard...

Archaeologists find evidence of how Iron Age Britons adapted to the Roman conquest in Winterborne Kingston

29 June 2024

29 June 2024

Archaeologists from Bournemouth University (BU) have discovered human remains and artifacts which give new insight into how early Britons adapted...

Analysis of Ancient Scythian Leather Samples Shows Ancient Scythians Made Leather from Human Skin

20 December 2023

20 December 2023

The ancient Scythians’ history as fearsome warriors dates back more than 2,000 years, and now research from a multi-institutional team...

Israeli Archaeologists discover two shipwrecks filled with treasure

22 December 2021

22 December 2021

Israeli archaeologists have been discovered ancient artifacts and treasures amid the wrecks of two ships on the seafloor off the...

31 Unknown Shipwrecks, Including a Rare Sailing Ship, Discovered in Lake Constance

13 August 2025

13 August 2025

In a groundbreaking underwater archaeology project, researchers have discovered 31 previously unknown shipwrecks lying silently on the floor of Lake...

Mythical Viking stronghold Jomsborg could be on Hangman’s Hill near Wolin, archaeologist say

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

A new hypothesis about the location of the mythical Viking stronghold on Hangman’s Hill near Wolin (West Pomerania) has been...

5,000-Year-Old Matrilineal Society Discovered in China: DNA Unveils Ancient Female-Led Clans

30 July 2025

30 July 2025

In a remarkable study, scientists have uncovered genetic evidence of a rare matrilineal society in Neolithic China, where women determined...

Exceptional Iron Age Artifacts Discovered at Celtic Necropolis in France

18 April 2025

18 April 2025

An archaeological excavation in Creuzier-le-Neuf, a small town located six miles north of Vichy, has unveiled a remarkable Celtic necropolis,...

An important Gallo-Roman worship complex was discovered near Rennes, France

13 June 2022

13 June 2022

An essential Gallo-Roman worship complex was unearthed by Inrap  (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) archaeologists at Chapelle-des-Fougeretz (Ille-et-Vilaine), near...