The Economist - UK (2022-05-28)

76 Culture The Economist May 28th 2022

walls,  and  worshipped  insidethem,seem

to  have  discovered  religion long before

they  discovered  farming.  This sequence

may  also  explain  why  they  eventuallybu­

ried and abandoned the temple.Withtime,

the  monoliths  and  enclosuresofGobekli

Tepe  became  smaller  and  theworkman­

ship  sloppier.  Perhaps,  as  hunting and

foraging  gave  way  to  agriculture,theold

gods gave way to new ones.

Karahan  Tepe  contains more clues

about the transition. The peoplewhobuilt

Gobekli Tepe saw themselvesaspartofthe

animal  universe.  Those  behind Karahan

Tepe  already  appear  to  have considered

themselves  a  separate,  superiorspecies.

“We see this as a turning­point,”saysNec­

mi  Kurul  of  Istanbul  University,whohas

led  the  excavations.  “Here,  manstartsto

place himself at the centre of thecosmos.”

Signs and wonders

On  the  road  to  Karahan  Tepe, between

empty  expanses  and  hills strewn with

rocks,  villagers  collect  wildherbs.Olive

trees  catch  the  spring  breeze.Flocks of

sheep  block  advancing  cars. The dry

ground  under  their  hooves  mayhideyet

more  wonders.  Surveys  have confirmed

the presence of at least 16 prehistoricritual

sites in the area, says Mr Kurul.BesidesGo­

bekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe,excavationis

ongoing  at  six  of  them.  Thecountryside

around Sanliurfa may containmanymore.

The  T­shaped  pillars  andreliefsatthe

sites  unearthed  so  far  suggestthepeople

who congregated in their shadowsshareda

common  religion  or  culture.Fora while,

Gobekli Tepe was thought to beboththefo­

cal point and the pinnacle of thatculture,a

sort  of  cathedral  among  churches, or a

pilgrimage site. With the discoveryofKara­

han Tepe, which may be even bigger(onlya

fraction  of  each  has  been  excavated),that

view is now being revisited. 

The  rest  is  a  mystery  as  inscrutableas

the  monoliths  themselves.  Whatinspired

groups of people living at the endoftheice

age  to  build  temples  by  hauling huge

blocks  of  limestone  up  mountains,and

who  presided  over  the  back­breakingla­

bour, is anyone’s guess. Otherthanthefact

that  it  was  deeply  patriarchal—thegiant

phalluses speak for themselves—thereare

few clues as to how their societyworked.

Whatever brought the hunter­gatherers

of  Upper  Mesopotamia  togetherendured.

Gobekli Tepe was used more orlesscontin­

uously  from  9500  to  8000bc, the same

span of time as between the collapseofthe

Roman Empire and the adventofspacetra­

vel.  The  temples  seem  to  havelivedand

died with their architects. Everyfewgener­

ations,  the  enclosures  were  buried,along

with  the  monoliths,  only  fornewonesto

be  erected  next  door.  No  oneknowswhy.

Today,  one  shovel  of  dirt  atatime,they

have begun to come back to life.n

Aromatherapies

By the noses

I

nlosingtheirsenseofsmell,victims

ofcovid­19realisedjusthowmuchthey

reliedonit.Unluckypatientstoldofthe

disorientatingexperienceofanosmia,as

theconditionisknown.Foodwassapped

ofitsflavour,natureofitsbeauty.

AsEliseVernonPearlstinechroniclesin

“Scent”,humanshavelongderivedplea­

surefromthesmellsofthenaturalworld.

Forthemostpart,though,Homosapiensis

not their targetmarket. For plants, fra­

grancesarea waytointeractwithinsects

and other animals. Their attraction for

peopleismerelyfortuitous.

In chemical terms, most natural

fragrancesaremadeupofvolatileorganic

compounds, or volatiles—so called be­

causeoftheirtendencytochangestates

suddenly.Volatilesevaporateeasily,drift­

ingintonoses.Oneexampleislimonene,a

simplecitrus­smellingcompound.Santa­

lene,foundinsandalwood,isanother:a

heaviercompound,it takeslongertoevap­

orate, providing the long­lasting “base”

notesinmanyfragrances.

In plants’ reproductive processes,

smelly volatiles attract pollinators. But

theirnaturalapplicationsaremuchmore

varied. Frankincense and myrrh resins

protectwoundedtreebark,forminga sort

ofodiferousscabthathelpsfendoffinfec­

tionandattack.Ifaninsectchewsthrough

the leaves of some Bursera plants, out

shoots a sticky, smelly resin to trap them.

Coyote tobacco plants are even more craf­

ty: upon sensing the secretions of hungry

caterpillars, they produce volatiles that at­

tract predators to dispatch the pests.

Ms  Pearlstine  stresses  just  how  wily

plants can be in deploying their aromas for

reproduction.  White  flowers  often  emit

their  scent  at  night,  to  attract  nocturnal

pollinators such as moths. They produce a

dilute  nectar  that  encourages  moths  to

keep moving, rather than linger at a single

bloom—all  the  better  to  increase  pollina­

tion. Other flowers change their fragrance

after  being  successfully  pollinated,  as  a

signal for insects to go elsewhere.

But though “Scent” is a story of plants’

ingenuity,  it  is  also  a  tale  of  the  human

kind. People have long commandeered fra­

grances for their own purposes, particular­

ly for use in religious ceremonies: perfume

recipes on the walls of an Egyptian temple

in Edfu demonstrate just how long ingredi­

ents have been mixed in pursuit of an opti­

mal  blend.  So  highly  prized  were  some

scents  that,  to  scare  off  competitors,  Arab

traders spread a legend about giant eagles

that reputedly guarded cinnamon.

Eventually scientists no longer needed

natural  sources  for  fragrances.  In  1866  an

aroma  molecule  was  synthesised  for  the

first  time.  Sixteen  years  later  Houbigant

Parfum released Fougère Royale, which Ms

Pearlstine  calls  the  first  “modern  fantasy

perfume”  as  it  creates  an  imaginary  scent

rather than replicating a natural one. Now­

adays  fragrance­making  is  dominated  by

synthetic  compounds,  which  can  be  reli­

ably and affordably produced in bulk. 

That  has  led  to  the  proliferation  of

smelly  products,  from  toilet  paper  to

toothpaste.  Scent  is  accordingly  big  busi­

ness.  Syrmise,  a  fragrance  and  flavour

manufacturer  that  claims  peopleinteract

with its products up to 30 timesa day,had

sales of €3.8bn ($4.5bn) last year.n

Scent: A Natural History of Fragrance.

By Elise Vernon Pearlstine. Yale University

Press; 272 pages; $28 and £20

The sweet smell of success