Comparative Guts

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Red-figured terracotta bell-krater

Vessel for mixing wine and water, late 5th century BCE, with four figures and altar smoking with knisa. The boy on the left is holding skewered splanchna and roasting them on the fire. These would produce a complex odour profile including meaty, fatty and smokey odours. A man to the right is holding a bag-like organ over the fire, which may be either a heart or possibly a bladder, in which case its contents would degrade and contribute a scent of ammonia.
Musée du Louvre, Paris, G496. © 2012 RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Stéphane Maréchalle