Mashes to Mashes, Crust to Crust. Presenting a novel microstructural marker for malting in the archaeological record

Identifying Past Beer Production: Contributions from an Ethnoarchaeological Study in Bedik Villages, Senegal

The identification of beer production in past societies remains a challenge as very few studies have discussed its material evidence. Our investigation in Senegal aimed at filling this gap. We documented 14 beer houses and several beer cooking areas in five Bedik villages and excavated a beer house and associated cooking area in a recently abandoned village. We recorded the architectural attributes of the beer-making structures (location, shape, size, materials, techniques, internal layouts). We also analyzed associated pottery combining typometry and use-wear. Such an integrated study revealed that the pottery types (large vessels, small bottles) and use-alteration (inner non-abrasive attrition), are the most distinctive features for identifying beer production, besides the beer houses' internal layouts (wedge holes of large pottery, altar) and the beer cooking areas' location outside the compound. Exploration of the same criteria in other cultural contexts in Africa lends support to the broader significance of these findings.

Transformation of cereal grains: Botanical and chemical analysis of food residues encrusted on pottery from the Funnel Beaker settlement of Oldenburg LA 77, northern Germany

An integrated botanical and chemical approach is used to study surface residues on Funnel Beaker ceramics from the site of Oldenburg LA 77, in northern Germany. Organic residues were discovered adhering to fragments of thick-walled, undecorated ceramic vessels (n = 19) and ceramic discs (n = 2). The surface residues were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to examine remains of cereals and other plant tissues that survived food preparation and cooking, and using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and direct time-resolved mass spectrometry (DTMS), to chemically identify specific food components. The SEM results show a reoccurring presence of cereal grain (emmer and barley) and one case of co-occurrence of emmer and fat-hen seeds. The SEM evidence for the use of sprouted emmer grain and milk-ripe barley from the Oldenburg residues greatly enhances our understanding of Neolithic foodways in northwestern Europe. The ATR-FTIR results showed that roughly a third of the surface residues contain traces of the original foods prepared or processed and DTMS results confirm that most of the residues primarily contain polysaccharides and a minimal amount of plant protein and that they lack lipids. Only one residue presents minor indications for a (partly) animal origin. The ceramic vessels were thus used almost exclusively for the processing or cooking of cereal grains. This study offers an intimate view of the cuisine and cooking practices (and in some cases their seasonal timing) in an early agricultural village located in a marginal farming region on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.

Positive selection acts on regulatory genetic variants in populations of European ancestry that affect ALDH2 gene expression

ALDH2 is a key enzyme in alcohol metabolism that protects cells from acetaldehyde toxicity. Using iHS, iSAFE and FST statistics, we identified regulatory acting variants affecting ALDH2 gene expression under positive selection in populations of European ancestry. Several SNPs (rs3184504, rs4766578, rs10774625, rs597808, rs653178, rs847892, rs2013002) that function as eQTLs for ALDH2 in various tissues showed evidence of strong positive selection. Very large pairwise FST values indicated high genetic differentiation at these loci between populations of European ancestry and populations of other global ancestries. Estimating the timing of positive selection on the beneficial alleles suggests that these variants were recently adapted approximately 3000-3700 years ago. The derived beneficial alleles are in complete linkage disequilibrium with the derived ALDH2 promoter variant rs886205, which is associated with higher transcriptional activity. The SNPs rs4766578 and rs847892 are located in binding sequences for the transcription factor HNF4A, which is an important regulatory element of ALDH2 gene expression. In contrast to the missense variant ALDH2 rs671 (ALDH2*2), which is common only in East Asian populations and is associated with greatly reduced enzyme activity and alcohol intolerance, the beneficial alleles of the regulatory variants identified in this study are associated with increased expression of ALDH2. This suggests adaptation of Europeans to higher alcohol consumption.

Hallstatt miners consumed blue cheese and beer during the Iron Age and retained a non-Westernized gut microbiome until the Baroque period

We subjected human paleofeces dating from the Bronze Age to the Baroque period (18th century AD) to in-depth microscopic, metagenomic, and proteomic analyses. The paleofeces were preserved in the underground salt mines of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hallstatt in Austria. This allowed us to reconstruct the diet of the former population and gain insights into their ancient gut microbiome composition. Our dietary survey identified bran and glumes of different cereals as some of the most prevalent plant fragments. This highly fibrous, carbohydrate-rich diet was supplemented with proteins from broad beans and occasionally with fruits, nuts, or animal food products. Due to these traditional dietary habits, all ancient miners up to the Baroque period have gut microbiome structures akin to modern non-Westernized individuals whose diets are also mainly composed of unprocessed foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. This may indicate a shift in the gut community composition of modern Westernized populations due to quite recent dietary and lifestyle changes. When we extended our microbial survey to fungi present in the paleofeces, in one of the Iron Age samples, we observed a high abundance of Penicillium roqueforti and Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA. Genome-wide analysis indicates that both fungi were involved in food fermentation and provides the first molecular evidence for blue cheese and beer consumption in Iron Age Europe.

Early evidence for beer drinking in a 9000-year-old platform mound in southern China

Alcoholic beverages played an essential role in rituals in ancient societies. Here we report the first evidence for beer drinking in the context of burial ritual in early Holocene southern China. Recent archaeological investigations at Qiaotou (9,000-8,700 cal. BP) have revealed a platform mound containing human burials and high concentrations of painted pottery, encircled by a human-made ditch. By applying microfossil (starch, phytolith, and fungi) residue analysis on the pottery vessels, we found that some of the pots held beer made of rice (Oryza sp.), Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and USOs. We also discovered the earliest evidence for using mold saccharification-fermentation starter in beer making, predating written records by 8,000 years. The beer at Qiaotou was likely served in rituals to commemorate the burial of the dead. Ritualized drinking probably played an integrative role in maintaining social relationships, paving the way for the rise of complex farming societies four millennia later.

Dig out, Dig in! Plant-based diet at the Late Bronze Age copper production site of Prigglitz-Gasteil (Lower Austria) and the relevance of processed foodstuffs for the supply of Alpine Bronze Age miners

This paper starts from theoretical and methodical considerations about the role of archaeobotanical finds in culinary archaeology, emphasizing the importance of processed cereal preparations as the "missing link" between crop and consumption. These considerations are exemplified by the discussion of abundant new archaeobotanical data from the Late Bronze Age copper mining site of Prigglitz-Gasteil, situated at the easternmost fringe of the Alps. At this site, copper ore mining in opencast mines took place from the 11th until the 9th century BCE (late Urnfield Culture), as well as copper processing (beneficiation, smelting, refining, casting) on artificial terrain terraces. During archaeological excavations from 2010 to 2014, two areas of the site were investigated and sampled for archaeobotanical finds and micro-debris in a high-resolution approach. This paper aims at 1) analysing the food plant spectrum at the mining settlement of Prigglitz-Gasteil basing on charred plant macroremains, 2) investigating producer/consumer aspects of Prigglitz-Gasteil in comparison to the Bronze Age metallurgical sites of Kiechlberg, Klinglberg, and Mauken, and 3) reconstructing the miners' and metallurgists' diets. Our analyses demonstrate that the plant-based diet of the investigated mining communities reflects the general regional and chronological trends rather than particular preferences of the miners or metallurgists. The lack of chaff, combined with a high occurrence of processed food, suggests that the miners at Prigglitz-Gasteil were supplied from outside with ready-to-cook and processed grain, either from adjacent communities or from a larger distance. This consumer character is in accordance with observation from previously analysed metallurgical sites. Interestingly, the components observed in charred cereal products (barley, Hordeum vulgare, and foxtail millet, Setaria italica) contrast with the dominant crop taxa (broomcorn millet, Panicum miliaceum, foxtail millet, and lentil, Lens culinaris). Foraging of fruits and nuts also significantly contributed to the daily diet.