Teaching with Beer: An Archaeology of Beer in and outside of the Classroom

Summary

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. Through my Raise Your Glass to the Past experimental archaeology project, community members from central Vancouver Island, BC, experience ancient-inspired ales combined with information about the associated cultures in a way not experienced by these audiences before. Aside from drinking the beer, the Raise Your Glass to the Past project shares archaeological knowledge through interpretations of taste, daily practices, and ways of knowing. It has long been shown that the cultural construction of taste is embedded with meaning and references both identity and place. Evidence of the daily practices of ancient life can highlight ways of production, gender roles, and habitus. Lastly, the ways of knowing about the science of fermentation, as well as relationships structured around drinking, allows for a unique viewpoint into the lives of past peoples, putting faces onto the past and making their humanity more real to nonacademic audiences.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Raise Your Glass to the Past: An Exploration of the Archaeology of Beer

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 29876