Kirjahaku

In a lively tour around the world and through the millennia, "Uncorking the Past" tells the compelling story of humanity's ingenious, intoxicating quest for the perfect drink. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us up to date on what we now know about how humans created and enjoyed fermented beverages across cultures. Along the way, he explores a provocative hypothesis about the integral role such libations have played in human evolution. We discover, for example, that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated for their potential in making quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan, the corn beers of the Americas, and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds - even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink, it turns out - whether it be mind-altering, medicinal, a religious symbol, a social lubricant, or artistic inspiration - has not only been a profound force in history, but may be fundamental to the human condition itself.

A richly illustrated account of the story of ancient vinicultureThe history of civilization is, in many ways, the history of wine. This book is the first comprehensive account of the earliest stages of the history and prehistory of viniculture, which extends back into the Neolithic period and beyond. Elegantly written and richly illustrated, Ancient Wine opens up whole new chapters in the fascinating story of wine by drawing on recent archaeological discoveries, molecular and DNA sleuthing, and the writings and art of ancient peoples. In a new afterword, the author discusses exciting recent developments in the understanding of ancient wine, including a new theory of how viniculture came to central and northern Europe.

A critical transition period in the archaeology and history of Palestine-the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age-is described in detail from the perspective of a group of sites in the Baq'ah Valley. A major emphasis is on how scientific techniques, including magnetic location of undisturbed burial deposits and analytical reconstruction of very early industries, can be effectively integrated into an archaeological project. Contrary to traditional views, the evidence supports a relatively peaceful development within a single cultural tradition rather than the intrusion of a new people or segment of the existing population, by invasion, migration, or revolt.

Patrick E. McGovern takes us on a fascinating journey through time to the dawn of brewing when our ancestors might well have made a Palaeo-Brew of fruits, honey, cereals and botanicals. Early beverage-makers must have marvelled at the process of fermentation, their amazement growing as they drank the mind-altering drinks which were to become the medicines, religious symbols and social lubricants of later cultures. McGovern circles the globe—to China, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Scandinavia, Honduras, Peru and Mexico—interweaving archaeology and science to tell stories of making liquid time capsules. Accompanying homebrew interpretations and matching meal recipes help bring the past alive, as our senses and imaginations travel “Back to the Future”.

The University Museum excavated at Beth Shan from 1921-1934, when stratigraphical methods were first being developed. For this study the two Late Bronze levels (VII and VIII) have been reevaluated by the careful analysis of field records, photographs, and drawings along with the restudy of all artifacts housed in The University Museum and a selection of objects in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. The structures of these levels have parallels in New Kingdom Egypt and Late Bronze/Early Iron Age sites of southern Levant and the Sinai. Included are contributions by 13 specialists on specific classes of objects and technologies.

The papers in this volume clearly demonstrate the importance of investigating organic residues to elucidate crucial aspects of ancient life such as agriculture, trade, ritual practice. Much of the information presented here could only have been derived using scientific techniques of analysis.