Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer" at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
In its earliest forms, beer was vastly different from the beverage we enjoy today. Third-millennium BCE written records in Mesopotamia suggest that beer had already been brewed and enjoyed for hundreds if not thousands of years. Beer was brewed in temples by designated brewers but was also brewed at home by women for their households. This beer could be brewed, fermented, and served all in the same container. It had an exceptionally short shelf life and was drunk through straws to avoid the surface-floating detritus. Even with these differences, ancient beer shared the common presence of ethanol with our modern libation, as well as its usage in social gatherings and feasts. Here we explore beer’s deep time (pre)history through a variety of eras and locations. Our goal is to highlight the diverse brewing and consumption patterns of beer around the globe and across the millennia. Unhindered by modern definitions limiting beer to barley, water, hops, and yeast, ancient peoples used their favorite ingredients to craft libations unique to their cultural milieu. These ancient brews were deeply steeped with meaning, were shared with both family and elites, and were used to create and maintain relationships between people and the gods.
Other Keywords
Experimental Archaeology •
Subsistence and Foodways •
Ceramic Analysis •
Craft Production •
alcohol •
Historic •
Neolithic •
Iconography and epigraphy •
Chalcolithic •
Identity/Ethnicity
Geographic Keywords
State of Eritrea (Country) •
Republic of Yemen (Country) •
Multi-regional/comparative •
Republic of Turkey (Country) •
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Country) •
Republic of Iraq (Country) •
Islamic Republic of Iran (Country) •
State of Israel (Country) •
Lebanese Republic (Country) •
Syrian Arab Republic (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-4 of 4)
- Documents (4)
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Beer and Feasts in the Highlands of Southern Ethiopia: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Perspectives (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Feasting and drinking beer by the Gamo Boreda, who live in the highlands of southern Ethiopia, represent status and seniority and have a long tradition of connecting the living with the ancestors. This paper focuses on the archaeological site of Ochollo Mulato (AD 1270–1950), incorporating oral traditions in...
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Pouring the Past: A Discussion of Authenticity in Re-created Ancient Ales (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Beer, by all archaeological evidence, has been a passion of humanity since before written language. This fermented beverage was the chosen drink of many ancient cultures and societies, for health and nutrition, for the effects of alcohol, and for social and religious occasions. Today, the craft beer movement is...
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Teaching with Beer: An Archaeology of Beer in and outside of the Classroom (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Why study an archaeology of beer? Beyond the modern popularity of craft beer, this beverage is a deeply ancient and meaningful form of material culture. It is also a powerful tool to put faces onto the past, and to make the ancient peoples we study both relevant and enticing to our students and the larger public....
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Work Is the Curse of the Drinking Class: Beer, Labor, and Class in the Ancient Near East (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeology of beer has received significant attention in the last three decades. However, many studies focus on the special role that beer played in sumptuous prestige feasts and for conducting commensal politics with an emphasis on elite motivations. In this paper, I view the production of beer as a...