Drying Kiln after excavation. Image: University of Manchester
Posted on 12/01/2012 3:41:09 PM PST by Renfield
Between 2007 and 2012 a team led by Dr Lindy Crewe from the University of Manchester have been excavating a Cypriot Bronze Age site at the south-western settlement of Kissonerga-Skalia near Paphos.
The team excavated a two by two metre domed mud-plastered structure and have now demonstrated by means of experimental archaeology and various other evidence that it was used as a kiln to dry malt for beer making three-and-a half-thousand years ago.
The form of this construction suggests that the most likely function was as a drying-kiln, and that one of the primary uses of this structure was for drying malt or curing malt cakes.
The excavation of the malting kiln with associated sets of pottery types and tools left in place gives a great opportunity to look at Bronze Age toolkits and to figure out techniques and recipes.
According to Dr Crewe, beers of different flavours would have been brewed from malted barley and fermented with yeasts with an alcoholic content of around 5 per cent. The yeast would have either been wild or produced from fruit such as grape or fig.
Drying Kiln after excavation. Image: University of Manchester
Whilst use of alcoholic beverages is considered an important feature of most societies, identifying alcohol production and consumption in the archaeological record is notoriously difficult.
Vessels with scenic compositions related to beer/bread production The Oxford bowl (1,2 & 3) The Sévres Jar (after Karageorghis 1991b, pl. IXc and IXd) (4 & 5) and the Hadjiprodromou bowl (6). Image Dr Crewe
Dr Crewe said, “Archaeologists believe beer drinking was an important part of society from the Neolithic onwards and may have even been the main reason that people began to cultivate grain in the first place.”
Important evidence comes from the well-known ‘scenic compositions’ found in tombs of the Early–Middle Cypriot Bronze Age, which have been the focus of a great deal of speculation on the nature of the activities shown and the meanings behind the imagery. The new data from Kissonerga-Skalia provides impetus for the re-interpretation of a number of the scenic compositions as narratives of the related activities of producing beer and bread.
The associated architecture and material culture is primarily of types found at Bronze Age sites elsewhere, but allows for extrapolation of some of the less archaeologically distinct aspects of beer production.
Beer production and subsequent consumption was an important feature of celebrations, used to foster community cohesion during the Early–Middle Cypriot Bronze Age, and may even have been manipulated to create inequalities during the transition to the Late Cypriot Bronze Age.
The oven discovered by the archaeologists was positioned at one end of a 50 metres square courtyard with a plastered floor.
The archaeologists found grinding tools and mortars which may have been used to break down the grain after it was malted, a small hearth and cooking pots made of clay to cook the beer gently. They also found juglets, which it is believed, probably contained yeast additives or sweeteners to produce beers of different strengths or flavours. Beer ingredients were found by the team as carbonised seeds.
Crewe added: “Beer was commonly drunk because it is more nutritious than bread and less likely to contain harmful pathogens than drinking water which can make you ill. But alcoholic beverages were also used to oil the wheels of business and pleasure in much the same way as today: work brought communities together for tasks such as bringing in the harvest or erecting special buildings. Instead of payment, participants are rewarded with a special feast, often involving quantities of alcohol, which also transformed the work from a chore into a social event. The people of the Bronze Age, it seems, were well aware of the relaxing properties of alcohol.”
Experimental Drying Kiln after construction. Image: HARP Archaeology
In August 2012, an experimental archaeology team, led by Ian Hill of HARP Archaeology, recreated the drying kiln using traditional techniques in order to test Dr Crewe’s theory. The field school replicated the installation to a working level in order to test its functionality and suitability for malting grain.
The structure was built with a domed roof, a large entrance and a sunken pit near the entrance to house a large pot used as the firebox of the kiln. The theory being that heat generated from the fire would rise and circulate around the dome, with the most intense heat remaining within the pot. By covering the entrance to the installation with temporary doors and building a chimney into the domed roof, the temperatures and airflow within the dome could be further controlled.
This modern version used hot air to produce a temperature of 65° C – perfect conditions for heating and drying grains but still preserving it’s enzymes and proteins.
Ian Hill said: “After the beers had been strained, we felt they were all pretty drinkable, though some varieties were better than others. The grape was less pleasant - a bit too sweet– the outcomes are less reliable when using wild yeasts, compared to brewers yeast, but the fig beer was definitely the most popular.”
Information for the 2013 Field School will be posted in early 2013, but for more information regarding the project and to express an interest in participating please contact here.
In need of a drink! Experimental Drying Kiln during construction. Image: University of Manchester
Ingredients
1.5 Kg fresh, wild barley
5 large, wild figs (unwashed)
Plenty of water
• Using a porous sack, soak 1.5 Kg of the barley grains in cool running water for 24 hours. A fresh running stream is ideal.
• Drain the grains and remove any unwanted stalks etc.
• Spread the grains evenly inside a semi-porous container (a shallow pottery vessel or wooden bowl for instance) and cover the container with a damp cloth and place the container out of direct sunlight.
• Uncover every 6 hours to stir the grains, so to avoid overheating and moulding and repeat until germination phase is complete (usually 3-4 days).
• Once the grains have germinated they are ready to malt. Split open a grain to check the germination, once the inner shoot of the grain has grown to around 75% of the length of the grain they are ready.
• To malt the grain place in open containers and put them into the bottom of your drying kiln, once positioned fire up the kiln and maintain a steady fire for 24 hours. This will produce a steady temperature of around 60C for malting your grains to produce a pale malt.
• Once malted take your grains and crush using a quern stone and grinder, the grains should be crushed in order to open them and allow liquid so that sugars can be absorbed, but not crushed so much as to make flour.
• Heat 3.75 litres of water in a large cooking pot to between 65and 70C. Add the crushed malt and stir through. Cover the vessel and remove from the heat, but ensure that the temperature does not fall below 65 or above 70C (if necessary add cold or hot water to help maintain the temperature) and leave to mash for 90 minutes.
• Heat a further 3.75 litres of water to 75C in a separate cooking pot and prepare a third, sealable, vessel which will be used to ferment the beer in.
• Once the mash is complete strain the contents of the mash through a porous material, such as cloth, into the fermentation vessel. The grains will be held in the cloth whilst allowing the sweet liquid wort to drain into the fermentation vessel. To get the maximum amount of sugars from the grain and into the wort take the second vessel of heated water and pour over the grains to drain into the fermentation vessel.
• Once the fermentation vessel is full, heat to a high temperature to kill any germs or bacteria. The wort must then be cooled by placing the fermentation vessel into cold water (being careful not to let any of the water into the vessel).
• Once the wort has been cooled take the figs and gently crush them in your hand before placing them inside the fermentation vessel. Seal the fermentation vessel and leave in a cool place, out of direct sunlight for 5-6 days, by which time your beer will be ready to drink.
Source: University of Manchester
Kissonerga-Skalia: An Early-Middle Bronze Age settlement in western Cyprus : – Dr Lindy Crewe
Kissonerga-Skalia – general information
Crewe, L. and I. Hill. “Finding beer in the archaeological record: a case study from Kissonerga-Skalia on Bronze Age Cyprus.” Levant 44, no. 2(2012) : 205-237
1998b Excavations at Kissonerga-Mosphilia 1979-1992. Lemba Archaeological Project II.1B. (University of Edinburgh). Available online at http://www.arcl.ed.ac.uk/arch/publications/cyprus/kissonerga/dir.htm
Lemba Archaeological Research Centre
HARP Archaeology – experimental beer production in Cyprus
/johnny
Imagine being an early beer-maker surrounded by hunter-gatherers. Hunters would have come over all the time to share their catches in exchange for some beer. Early herders as well.
I think I'll stick with the oven style that I used in NM.
/johnny
Imagine making beer in the mountains in 2008, and people just 'dropping by' at the end of a trail at the end of a dirt road 8 miles from pavement to visit and bring tobacco, salt, and meat.
It still works the same today. ;)
/johnny
I guess I have to get used to searching with keywords.. darn... I am lazy!
:p
817!
Wow
Thanks for all you’ve done, SunkenCiv.
I’ve enjoyed your postings more than you’ll ever know — what you posted was always fascinating and made for compelling reading.
Since my dad died, I haven’t been able to keep up with archeological news, history, space news, etc. (dad was a scientist and imminently curious about everything science).
You will be missed.
(I added the "eh?" because Nelson is Canadian.)
I’ve greatly enjoyed your ping list throughout the years. If you’re interested, I could help you set up a website/forum to continue your efforts.
Cultural perspective and a focus on the importance of history only strengthen the conservative position. Our principles are the result of centuries of willpower, war and conviction. To live only in day to day punditry and judge progress only from election to election is to throw away that heritage.
I thank you for the pings over the years!
How do they know it wasn’t a urinal?
Thanks SC. These are really great and informative. You’ll be missed. Is there another ping list to sign up with? I’d hate to miss these articles.
Well done.
If you are peeing burned grains, you need to change to a better beer.
/johnny
No! I read almost every word of every article pinged! It is the highlight of my week! But one must do what one must, I suppose. Thanks for the hard work and the years of the exact stuff that interests me.
refreshed
Thanks for all the work that you have done. GGG threads have been a welcome relief to all the troublesome politics this past year.
Hope all works well for you. Congratulations on your retirement.
Wow, that’s amazing, beer way back then.
I was just saying that the one thing that our town lacked was a nice local bar, where you could stop for a drink and see friends, like we used have back east in the Phila suburbs.
I regret reading this.
You have performed a valuable service over these last 8 1/2 years. I will sorely miss it.
‘Pod.
Thank you for your years of work, they have been an
interesting and facinating break from politics.
Thanks again.
Tet.
I am sure no one actually thought you were to blame for the multiple pings. It really is not a biggie for the pingee.
Sorry to see you have to drop this, but sometimes we have to prioritize, I know.
I thank you so much for your faithful contributions with these posting.
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