Contaminated: Archaeological Perspectives on Adulterated Alcohol Products in Turn-of-the-Century America

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Archaeology of Meat and Ale (General Sessions)" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

During the Covid-19 epidemic, high demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizer has resulted in products contaminated with toxic adulterants such as methanol. Whether the contamination was intentional or accidental, there are historic parallels where contaminated alcohol was produced, sold, and consumed. This paper explores some of these cases from historical and archaeological perspectives, and evaluates potential meanings behind these practices.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology of Meat and Ale (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology