Around the world and throughout time, humans have demonstrated a nearly universal proclivity for alcoholic beverages. As cultural anthropologist David Mandelbaum of the University of California notes, cultural attitudes towards alcohol vary around the world from adoration to proscription of drink, but there are few cultures that completely ignore alcohol. Distillation of hard spirits is a relatively modern innovation, and for much of human history, wine and beer constituted the entirety of selection at a bar (if a bar or tavern was allowed in a particular culture). Archaeological evidence demonstrates that while ubiquitous during the last 10,000 years, alcohol consumption was determined in unique contexts in each culture. This presentation provides a brief overview of the artifactual and historic evidence of beer and wine production in the Fertile Crescent and Mediterranean region and was given at the 2012 Bay Honors Research Symposium at UC Berkeley in 2012. To view the full paper please visit http://www.eaines.com/archaeology/the-archaeology-of-ancient-alcohol/

1. Carousing
with
The
Ancients
The
archaeology
of
wine
and
beer
in
the
Fer8le
Crescent
and
Mediterranean
Region
Ethan
D.
Aines

2. Ar8factual
and
Historical
Evidence
of
Alcohol:
-­‐
Wine
and
beer
making
equipment
-­‐
Middens
-­‐
Chemical
residue
on
poGery
-­‐
Art
-­‐
Mortuary
items
-­‐
Legal
code
-­‐
Trade
Documenta8on

3. Domes8ca8on
of
Wheat:
9800BCE
Earliest
evidence
of
beer:
Godin
Tepe,
modern-­‐day
Iran
4000BCE

4. Clay
tablet
recording
alloca8on
of
beer
3000
BCE

5. Diorite
stele
of
Hammurabi’s
Code,
1772BCE

6. Mesopotamian
terracoGa
plaque
with
an
ero8c
scene
1800
BCE

7. Copper
drinking
straw
8ps
Emar,
Syria
1300
–
1150
BCE

8. Funerary
model
of
Egyp8an
beer
making
2040-­‐1785
BCE

9. Egyp8an
Wine
jars
from
Abydos
3150
BCE

10. Wall
pain8ng
from
the
tomb
of
Nakht,
Theban
Necropolis,
Luxor
1300’s
BCE

11. Detail
of
Greek
wine
krater
470
BCE

13. “Well
gentlemen,
how
can
we
arrange
to
drink
less
tonight?
To
be
honest,
I
s8ll
have
a
a
terrible
hangover
from
yesterday
and
I
could
really
use
a
break.
I
dare
say
most
of
you
could,
too,
since
you
were
also
part
of
the
celebra8on.
So
let’s
try
not
to
overdo
it”
-­‐
Plato
(427–347
BCE),
Symposium

14. “Beer
was
invented
to
help
those
who
could
not
afford
wine.”
-­‐
Athenaeus,
3rd
Century
CE
Wine
shop
preserved
in
Herculeneum
79
CE

15. Microscopy
and
Chemical
Analysis
brewers
yeast
red
wine

16. Works
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17. Works
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Con8nued
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Dale.
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9
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in
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and
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91.4
(1989):
682-­‐695.
Print.
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of
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1-­‐19.
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and
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Print.
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-­‐
-­‐
-­‐.
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of
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der
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Print.

18. Photo
Credits
“5,100
Year
Old
Egyp8an
Medicinal
Wine.”
Patrick
McGovern.
Penn
Museum.
“Archaeology
of
Godin
Tepe.”
Royal
Ontario
Museum.
“A
slave
aGends
to
a
vomi8ng
symposiast.”
The
Na8onal
Museum
of
Denmark.
“Clay
tablet
recording
alloca8on
of
beer.”
The
Bri8sh
Museum.
“Copper
straw
8ps
from
Emar,
Syria.”
Jennings,
Jus8n,
Et
al.
“Drinking
Beer
in
a
Blissful
Mood:
Alcohol
Produc8on,
Opera8onal
Chains,
and
Feas8ng
in
the
Ancient
World.”
Current
Anthropology
46.2
(2005):
275-­‐303.
Print.
“Diorite
stele
of
Hamurabi’s
code.”
The
Louvre.
“Funerary
model
of
Egyp8an
beer
making.”
The
Rosicrucian
Museum.
“Scene
from
the
tomb
of
Nahkt.”
Thomas
Ligo8
Online.
“TeracoGa
plaque
with
an
ero8c
scene.”
The
Bri8sh
Museum.
“Tri8cum
arara8cum.”
Wikimedia
Armenia.
“Wallpaper
of
Karnak
Temple,
Luxor.”
Ethan
D.
Aines.
“Wine
amphorae
in
the
Roman
town
of
Herculaneum.”
The
American
Geophysical
Union.

19. The
End