A Hundred Bottles of Beer in the Ground: Excavating Detroit’s Historic Local Beer Industry from Artifacts of Working-Class Households in Roosevelt Park, Corktown Neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan.

Summary

During Detroit, Michigan’s "Golden Age" of beer production (1840-1880s) many immigrants brought beer-making skills and started brewery businesses. Many breweries were located downtown and their increasing popularity saturated local beer-production.

Since 2011 Wayne State University has been excavating residential lots at Michigan Central Station in the Corktown neighborhood, recovering over 10,000 artifacts.  Corktown was comprised of Irish and German immigrants, first generation Michiganders, and many Canadians. 

Analysis of beer bottles recovered from midden assemblage associated with working class households illustrates the growth in the production and consumption of beer in Detroit.  Beverage bottles figure prominently among artifacts from Lot 3 assemblage.  Dozens of local beer bottles were found partially or completely intact.  Using quantitative and qualitative analysis to examine the beer bottles and drawing information from historical advertisements and archival records, I document the extent to which the Lot 3 archaeological record reflects trends in Detroit’s beer production and consumption. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Poster Submission 2018   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 598