New Sensory Approaches to the Past

Edited volume published 1st July 2025: New Sensory Approaches to the Past | UCL Press

New Sensory Approaches to the Past assembles a series of research projects investigating cultural environments through the lens of the senses. The book presents the latest approaches to sensory archaeology and heritage research to understand the lived experience of past inhabitants. Interdisciplinary case studies carry out investigations in three different registers: personal and embodied, teamwork and collective responses to the historical environment, or digital reconstruction. An international cast of contributors includes archaeologists, architects, sociolinguists, military experts, cultural studies scholars and acoustics specialists, with research sites spanning Palaeolithic rock art to a 1960s North American fairground. Descriptions and analysis of sensory in-situ investigations offer methodological transparency and will enable readers to replicate and enhance their own research. Hence, the visual analysis that is common in archaeology and heritage assessments is placed alongside ethnographic techniques, landscape survey, sound recording, preservation advocacy work and various forms of digital reconstruction. This interdisciplinary approach harmonises research terminologies across fields, fostering a comprehensive understanding of sensory-based studies and the methods used to carry them out. The book revitalises familiar concepts with new insights and provides a platform to examine and resolve interdisciplinary ambiguities, making it an invaluable resource for advancing sensory research.

Editors: Pamela Jordan, Sara Mura & Sue Hamilton