Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer

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.