Multisensory archaeology focuses on sensory dimensions of archaeological sites, artifacts, and landscapes to reconstruct past human experiences. This workshop explores the potential of this approach for the study of palaces from the Bronze and Iron Age.
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Multisensory archaeology is an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to reconstruct and interpret past human experiences by engaging with all the senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. This methodology focuses on the sensory dimensions of archaeological sites, artifacts, and landscapes, aiming to provide a more holistic understanding of the past.
Despite its potential, the multisensory approach is underrepresented in studies of ancient Egyptian, Near Eastern, and Aegean palaces of the Bronze and Iron Ages. This two-day workshop seeks to address this gap by providing a platform for leading and emerging experts to engage in scholarly exchange about the possibilities and challenges of applying a multisensory framework in their archaeological work. Topics for exploration include, but are not limited to:
1. the role of palatial architecture in navigating and controlling movement within the palace;
2. the interplay between visible and invisible elements in palatial spaces;
3. the significance of acoustics in the palatial settings;
4. olfactory experiences and their impact within the palace context.
The workshop is organised by current Senior Fellow Uroš Matić in cooperation with Constance von Rüden, Institute for Archaeological Studies of Ruhr University Bochum. It is open to scholars and students from the fields of archaeology, history, media studies, cultural studies and social sciences.
Get together
Welcome
College for Social Sciences and Humanities, University Alliance Ruhr
Multisensory Approaches to Amarna Palaces
Kate Spence, University of Cambridge (UK)
A Tale of Two Palaces – Deir el-Ballas and Malqata
Peter Lacovara, The Ancient Egyptian Heritage and Archaeology Fund (USA)
Coffee Break
Following in the King's Footsteps: Experiencing the Memphite Palace Complex of Merenptah
Kevin Cahail, University of Pennsylvania Museum (USA)
Fear and Things: Multisensory Approach to Intimidation in New Kingdom Egyptian Palaces
Uroš Matić, College for Social Sciences and Humanities, University Alliance Ruhr (Germany)
Lunch break
Architecture in absentia: experiencing (the Minoan) ruins with the eyes shut
Clairy Palivou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece)
Polychromy in the Palatial Arts of the Aegean Bronze Age: Visual Signifier, Ideological Concept and Bizarre Colours
Fritz Blakolmer, University of Vienna (Austria)
Coffee break
Changing perceptions. The interpretive potential of Knossian mural decoration in light of embodiment theory
Ute Günkel-Maschek, University of Heidelberg (Germany)
Strangely Familiar? Reconstructing Local Perceptions of the Aegean-Style Wall Paintings in the Thutmoside Palace District of Tell el-Dab‘a, Egypt
Johannes Jungfleisch, Ruhr University Bochum (Germany)
Being as if dead. The Funeral Banquet of Domitian
Evening lecture by Friedrich Balke, Ruhr University Bochum (Germany)
Dinner
On Thinging Architecture: A Biography of Architectural Spaces in the Assyrian Palaces
Davide Nadali, Sapienza University in Rome (Italy)
Neo-Assyrian Palace as a living entity
Laura Battini, Collège de France (France)
Coffee break
Multisensorial Encounters with ‘Wonder’-ful Objects in Neo-Assyrian Palaces
Allison Thomason, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (USA)
‘Tamed’ Behaviors, Heightened Senses: Experiencing the Divine in Late Assyrian Palaces
Ludovico Portuese, University of Messina (Italy)
Animated Spaces: A multisensorial exploration of the relief painting in the palatial compound of Ezbet Helmi/Tell el-Dab‘a
Constance von Rüden, Ruhr University Bochum (Germany)
Final discussion
Lunch and closing
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Dr Uroš Matić
University of Graz (Austria) | Egyptology, Archaeology
E-mail: uros.matic@college-uaruhr.de
Uroš Matić is an archaeologist and Egyptologist based as a senior lecturer at the Institute for Ancient History and the Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Innsbruck, and the Institute for Classics at the University of Graz, Austria. His main expertise is in war and violence in ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian interrelations, settlement archaeology, and gender studies in archaeology.
Matić obtained his PhD from the University of Münster in 2017 and received two prizes for this work (Philippika prize of Harrassowitz in 2018 and Best Publication Award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in 2020). He held a PRIME fellowship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) from 2018 to 2019 and received grants from the Foundation for Postgraduates of Egyptology in Vienna in 2016 and 2022. He was co-chair of the Archaeology and Gender in Europe (AGE) community of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) from 2016 to 2019.
Uroš Matić taught at the University of Münster (Germany), University of Vienna (Austria), University of Graz (Austria), and University of Innsbruck (Austria). He has more than 100 publications, the most recent being the monograph Violence and Gender in Ancient Egypt (Routledge, 2021) and the edited volumes Gender Trouble and Current Archaeological Debates (Springer, 2024 with Bisserka Gaydarska, Laura Coltofean and Marta Diaz-Guardamino) and Bodies that Mattered. Ancient Egyptian Corporealities (Sidestone Press, 2025, with Dina Serova).
Website
https://www.uibk.ac.at/alte-geschichte-orient/institut/team/dr.-uros-matic-ba-ma.html
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Constance von Rüden is a professor of archaeology at Ruhr University Bochum, specialising in Bronze Age wall paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. With a PhD from the University of Heidelberg, her dissertation Die Wandmalereien von Tall Mishrife/Qatna im Kontext einer ägäisch-syrischen Kommunikation (2007, published in 2011) explored the interplay of art, cultural exchange, and material production in the Late Bronze Age. Since 2010, she has directed the field project ‘The Wall Paintings of Avaris, Tell el-Dabca, Egypt’, which investigates the unique artistic techniques and iconography of this crucial cultural hub. Her work, such as the book Tracing Technoscapes: The Production of Bronze Age Wall Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean (2018), highlights the complex networks of cultural interaction and materiality that defined this period. She collaborates extensively in interdisciplinary projects, integrating archaeological theory with material studies, particularly through New Materialist perspectives.
Website
https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/archaelogie/institut/personal/vonRueden.html.en