Abstract
The excavation of a low-temperature kiln structure at an affluent Iron Age regional center, Uppåkra, located in southern Sweden, revealed from archeobotanical samples and its context evidence of malting in the process to make beer. Carbonized germinated hulled barley grain (Hordeum vulgare) was recovered from the kiln structure itself and from the surrounding occupational surface. Located somewhat from the central area of the site, where previous excavations have uncovered hall-buildings, a ceremonial structure, and several smaller houses, the investigated kiln was situated in an area on the site that is absent of remains to indicate a living quarter. Activities using kilns have instead primarily been linked to this area and archeological finds are mainly of charred crops remains. In this paper, we argue that the germination of grain was deliberate and that the kiln was used to stop the germination process by drying or roasting the grain. If the malting process for large-scale beer production was carried out at a designated area of the site is discussed, as well as if this activity area was part of a structural organization observed elsewhere on the settlement.
Highlights
Our knowledge of the preparation and consumption of beer in ancient times depends on archeobotanical evidence and nonbotanical archeological evidence such as written and iconographical documentation
The recently discovered germinated grain from the Iron Age settlement Uppåkra in southern Sweden (Scandinavian Iron Age 500 BC–AD 1000) presented in this paper provides evidence of malt from the fifth to seventh centuries AD and gives insights to the malting process in Scandinavian society (Fig. 1)
This indicates how the kilning in the malting process for making beer was an activity allocated to a specific area on the settlement and that it was part of the structural organization observed elsewhere on the settlement
Summary
Our knowledge of the preparation and consumption of beer in ancient times depends on archeobotanical evidence and nonbotanical archeological evidence such as written and iconographical documentation. The new find of germinated grain was recovered by a kiln structure, located in an area on the settlement with several other kiln structures, but absent of remains from houses (Stilborg 1998; Lindell 2001) This indicates how the kilning in the malting process for making beer was an activity allocated to a specific area on the settlement and that it was part of the structural organization observed elsewhere on the settlement. The earliest evidence of beer making in Scandinavia have been recovered from Iron Age settlements and are assemblages of germinated barley grain, indicative of malt. At the Danish site Østerbølle dating to the first century AD, germinated grain was recovered from two ceramic pots from a burnt-down house, providing evidence of stored malt (Helbæk 1938).
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