Time Sifters Archaeology Society Newsletter January 2017

JANUARY-2017 January Program January 18 - at 6:00 PM - Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236The Archaeology Year in Review Darwin “Smitty” Smith Vice President, Time SiftersDear Member:Happy New Year! In the spirit of celebration, our \"Notes from a Time Sifter\" article this month is about thehistory of beer. Reading it as I prepared the newsletter made me thirsty and thinking about the developmentof craft beers in this country that are now rivaling Europe's best. Locally, Sarasota and Manatee countieshave a great selection of breweries turning out really good beer. One of my favorites in Sarasota is Calusa.They use an image of a Calusa mask in their logo as a symbol of the owners having grown up locally. Buttheir beer recipes are in the best tradition of fine brewing.Go to page three for the pictures of our holiday party. If you weren't able to join us this time, make a note todo it next year. It is a fun occasion to hang out with old friends and make new ones as you learn a bit moreabout the people you see at our monthly meetings.If your membership renewal date is January 2017 or earlier, please renew now. Tired of keeping track ofyour membership? For $200, you can become a lifetime member and never have to renew again. You canrenew by credit card online at www.Timesifters.org or with cash or check at the January meeting.Thanks for being part of Time Sifters! [email protected] Svekis, PresidentJanuary 18th, Selby Library: The Archeology Year in Review - Darwin “Smitty” SmithOne of the most popular programs expansion of human occupation us the highlights of the 21 newof the year, Time Sifters board in the Americas, an update on UNESCO World Heritage sites.member Smitty Smith presents the Bedlam Plague Pit inthe 2016 archaeological year in London, the discovery of areview. He has reviewed dozens of new Maya city in Belize, andsignificant reports of archaeological more. In addition, Smitty willdiscoveries around the world. His givepresentation will include the

Notes from a Time SifterWater Crisis? Drink Beer.The recent water crisis in Flint drank it through straws or strained itMichigan reminds us that water is through specially made ceramic jars.not always safe to drink. The UnitedStates Public Health Service Every grain-growing society in thepublished drinking water standards world “discovered” beer very earlyin 1914, and passed the Safe in their histories. In the Near EastDrinking Water Act in 1974, but it was brewed with barley and emmerthere were no government controls wheat. The native population of thefor ancient societies so most people Americas brewed beer from teosinte,drank beer because part of the the ancestor of American corn (J.brewing process killed any harmful Doebley), long before they domesti-bacteria in the water. cated corn as food. The Chinese gods” to the Sumerian people to used rice or millet, and a newBeer was probably discovered “make their hearts feel happy”. discovery in Mijiaya in east centralrather than invented because The ancient Epic of Gilgamesh China shows that in the thirdmicroscopic yeast, a single cell describes Enkidu as becoming millennium BCE, the people werefungus, is very common in the “civilized” after he learned to importing barley from westernenvironment and only needs to drink beer, and Hammurabi’s Eurasia specifically for brewingcome in contact with wet grain for laws demand harsh punishment beer (LA Times, 5/26/16).spontaneous fermentation. It became a for tavern keepers who overchargestaple equal to bread and may their beer-drinking customers Beer predates wine (made fromhave been the prime reason for (Law 108). Beer making is grapes instead of grain), whichdomesticating grain (Katz & Voigt, depicted on the walls of Egyptian was preferred by ancient GreeksExpedition, 28, 2). It was certainly tombs and we know that monument and Romans, but beer never losta major part of the diet for grain builders in Egypt received beer its popularity, especially with thegrowing societies. as part of their wages. Archaeol- ordinary people. It was more common ogists have discovered evidence in northern and eastern parts ofThe first evidence for brewing beer for at least five kinds of beer in Europe where grapes did not growcomes from the Near East where the workmen’s area next to the well. The Vikings loved it andgrain was first domesticated about pyramids on the Giza plateau believed that beer would be in10,000 years ago. Early beer was (Seawright, thekeep.org). They Valhalla for their heroes. Thriftybitter, so as communities became drank it morning, afternoon and European Christian monks discoveredmore sophisticated, the brewers evening (building pyramids in that you could run water throughadded ingredients like honey and the hot sun makes you thirsty). the mash more than once so thedates to improve the taste. Eventually first run (5% alcohol) was sold, thethere were many different recipes This early beer had only about second run (2 ½%) was for theirfor brewing with all kinds of additives 2% alcohol and was thick with own consumption, and the lastincluding malt and hops. residue from the grain so they run was given to the poor (Jiajing British Musesum Lemon Ancient Pottery Collection, Louisville Seminary Getty ImagesThere is a lot of evidence for beer’s Wang, Stanford Univ.). The Finspopularity. One of the oldest believed that a king (Gambrinus)examples is a 5000-year-old pay brought beer to their people (EPeistub from the ancient city of Uruk at German Wikipedia). The Germandocumenting that workers were people were brewing at least bypaid in beer rations, and a 19th 800 BCE. They took their beer socentury BCE Sumerian Hymn to seriously that Charlemagne (9thNinkasi is a recipe for makingbeer. Ninkasi was a “goddess of Notes continued next page ...brewing”, who gave the “gift of the

Notes continued ... Franklin was recognized as early as the 4thcentury CE) described beer as an declared that century BCE, with warnings fromessential staple, and in 1516 CE, “beer is living Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle.Bavarian Duke Wilhelm IV passed proof that The alcohol content of modernthe Reinheitsgebot, a purity law God loves us beer is much higher, sometimesthat ordered strict regulations for and wants us reaching 40%. Water is no longerbrewing German beer. Those regu- to be happy.” hazardous to drink (except inlations are still followed which is Flint), and we are more aware ofwhy German beer is so popular But as the the dangers of alcoholism, soand is celebrated yearly at Germany’s refining moderation is even more stronglyOktoberfest (Oktoberfest.net). process grew encouraged today. But low-alcoholEuropean beer lovers came to the in sophistica- and even no-alcohol beers areAmericas where both George tion, so did rising in popularity allowing us toWashington and Thomas Jefferson the alcohol continue to enjoy this popularhad their own private brew houses, EPei at German Wikipedia content, ancient beverage.and some say that Benjamin rising from about 2% to an average of 5%. Criticism of drunkennessHoliday PartyThe Time Sifters 2016 Holiday Party washeld at the home of board member GlennCooper (pictured top left). Glenn, Tessa,and their family were gracious hosts and agood time was had by allOfficers: Board of Directors Copyright © 2017Sherry Svekis, President Time SiftersArchaeologySociety,Inc.,Darwin \"Smitty\" Smith, Vice Pres. Directors: Evelyn Mangie All rights reserved.Bernice Jones, Secretary Valerie Jackson Bell Sharon McConnell We send newsletters to peopleCaroline Reed, Treasurer Robert Bopp Saretta Sparer who have attended or expressedKaren Jensen, Membership Glenn Cooper interestin our lecturesand given us their email address.

Membership Speakers & Events CalendarLifetime: $200 All to be held at 6:00 PMIndividual: $25 Selby Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota 34236Family: $35Sustaining: $50 January 18Student: $10 Archeology Year in Review Darwin “Smitty” Smith, Vice President, Time SiftersPay online at: February 15WWW.TimeSifters.org Cahokia Indians: Pre-Columbian settlers along theOr mail checks to: Mississippi RiverTime Sifters, Inc. Terri TumlinPO Box 5283 March 15Sarasota, FL. 34277 “The Resurrection of Camp Lawton: the World’s Largest Prison “ John K. Derden, Ph.D Professor Emeritus of History, East Georgia State College Time Sifters Archaeology Society A Chapter of the Florida Anthropological Society http://timesifters.org/Time Sifters Archaeology SocietyP. O. Box 5283, Sarasota, FL 34277