ANTH 1514 - ALCOHOL IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
From the earliest experiments with fermentation during the Neolithic, to the elaborate drinking cultures of East Asia, Mesoamerica, and the Classical world, alcohol has infused social life for thousands of years. This seminar introduces the production and consumption of beer, wine, and other fermented beverages across the ancient world an exceptionally potent form of material culture that was embedded within complex webs of social, political, economic, and ritual activity. Using alcohol as a comparative framework, we will explore a wide range of source material - artifactual remains, artistic representations, written evidence, ethnographic accounts, and experimental archaeology - to piece together evidence for the places where alcoholic beverages were made, as well as the technologies and techniques employed in their production. As far as possible, we will consider the beverages themselves - their tastes, textures, and alcohol content - and their effects on imbibers. We will also examine the broader context of consumption including the places, events, and symbolically loaded occasions where beer, wine, and other beverages were consumed.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Seminar
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Requirements: PREQ: ANTH 0582 (Letter Grade greater than 'C' or S if taken S/NC); PLAN: ANTH-BA

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