Barbara Huber is a graduate student at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in collaboration with Freidrich Schiller University. She’s investigating the global dimensions of the dispersal of ancient aromatic plants and spices throughout West Asia and East Africa using biochemical analyses to characterize organic remains.

Her current work studies the use of scented plants, perfumes, ointments, and resins alongside the incense and spice routes using biomolecular fingerprinting of plant secondary metabolites, lipids, and proteins. Ultimately, she is providing aroma to the archaeology of the ancient world and allowing archaeologists to explore a previously unstudied dimension of the past.