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 confirmed
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
ofitsflavour,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
ofodiferousscabthathelpsfendoffinfec
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 flowers 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 flowers 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
first time. Sixteen years later Houbigant
Parfum released Fougère Royale, which Ms
Pearlstine calls the first “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 affordably 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 flavour
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