The Materiality of Odors: Experiencing Church Burials and the Urban Environment in Early Modern Northern Sweden

Titta Kallio-Seppä,Annemari Tranberg

doi:10.1007/s41636-020-00264-2

Abstract

Archaeological material from early modern Sweden reveals that material and social meaning was intertwined in townscape odors; that is, odors and their association with unhygienic conditions affected the physical structure of the town, its material culture, and different traditions in the use of “townspace.” During the latter half of the 18th century, the town of Oulu suffered from unpleasant smells related to ponds and wet areas, and the odor of decomposing flesh from under-floor church burials greeted church visitors, despite the tradition of placing fragrant plants inside coffins. In the 18th century the town underwent deliberate changes: the ponds were drained and filled, burials under the church floor were prohibited, and one of the first graveyards located outside the town and separate from the church was constructed. These actions to change the town’s “smellscape” reflect emergent notions of regularity and cleanliness related to the Age of Enlightenment.

Highlights

The history of smell is often related to either the environment or culture, but these environmental and cultural dimensions of odor cannot be separated (Jenner 2011:348–349)
The focus of this article is on “miasmatic” smells; that is, the belief that diseases are spread through foul-smelling air. Such odors form “smellscapes” that are based on environmental features and social and cultural traditions related to the use of “townspace,” especially sacred space in churches, with the 17th- and 18th-century Swedish town of Oulu, in modern Finland, used as the main example (Fig. 1)
In Oulu there is a clear distinction between the seasons, with cold winters and warm summers, and during the summer months parishioners complained that the foul odor of decomposing bodies made church visits especially unpleasant

Summary

Introduction

The history of smell is often related to either the environment or culture, but these environmental and cultural dimensions of odor cannot be separated (Jenner 2011:348–349). The focus of this article is on “miasmatic” smells; that is, the belief that diseases are spread through foul-smelling air Such odors form “smellscapes” that are based on environmental features and social and cultural traditions related to the use of “townspace,” especially sacred space in churches, with the 17th- and 18th-century Swedish town of Oulu, in modern Finland, used as the main example (Fig. 1). After explaining what had been done to avoid wetness, Snellmann discounted the negative effects of miasma, noting that “even though those that have grown up in cultivated circumstances and smelled beautiful scents think that it is harmful to breathe in these moist and boggy steams from the air, it is widely known that the health of this area’s residents has never suffered from them [translation by authors]” (Snellmann 2000:36) Until the latter half of the 19th century, there were two larger ponds inside the town area in Oulu: the Hjärpenlampi and the School Pond (Fig. 2). The idea of bad smells spreading disease was replaced by more modern concepts of epidemiology (Jenner 2011:346)

Conclusions

Compliance with ethical standards