Imagination, Materiality and Value: Unlocking Sensory Experience in Archaeology

Abstract This article discusses the accessibility of sensory experience in archaeological research by proposing an approach that articulates the role imagination plays in the investigation of empirical data from the distant past. Building on interdisciplinary work in sensory studies, this article argues that sensory experiences are both culturally constructed and biologically mediated, emphasizing how the dynamic interplay between perception and materiality reveals the values embedded in ancient sensory-based desires. The author concludes by applying the theoretical and methodological approaches discussed throughout to a case study on ancient Egyptian head cones, demonstrating how archaeology can uncover the complex and consequential nature of ancient sensory experience. Sensory archaeology may advance not only by developing new ways to answer questions, but by reconsidering how we ask them.