2008 The Durrington Maltsters more

Excavations at Durrington Walls, near Stonehenge have been in the news. Merryn Dineley thinks archaeologists have missed something important in the well-preserved houses The Durrington maltsters Recent excavations at Durrington Walls, the enormous henge 3km north-east of Stonehenge, have revealed extensive evidence of feasting around 2500BC (News, Nov/Dec 2006). Pots were smashed, meat was roasted and joints of beef and pork were half eaten, then thrown away. Evidence of buildings similar to those of the Orcadian neolithic were discovered. Some have been interpreted as cult houses, perhaps used for special rituals, their clay floors having been kept scrupulously clean. Other buildings were the scenes of feasting, with food debris and a tremendous mess made by the revellers. Mike Parker Pearson has described an enormous feasting assemblage and conspicuous consumption at this late neolithic site. The first major excavation at Durrington Walls was by Geoffrey Wainwright in the 1960s. He too proposed important ceremonial and ritual activity, with special uses for the vast amounts of large, highly decorated Grooved Ware vessels. It seems strange, then, that in reports and discussions of the recent excavations the function and possibLe contents of the pottery are little discussed. Some years ago I suggested that brewing was an important aspect of ritual and domestic life in neolithic Britain, and that very large Grooved Ware buckets were suitable for fermentation of barley wort (the dark brown, sweet liquid produced from the mash] into, perhaps, a meadowsweet ale (feature, Nov 1996]. Interpretations of ritual activity and feasting at Durrington Walls support this idea of the wet processing of malt to make wort and ale rather than dry processing grain into flour for bread. The crucial ingredient for ale is malt. The smooth, scrupulously clean clay floors would have been suitable for malting and, with easy access to water and a suitable ceramic assemblage, the crushed malt could have been mashed and fermented in pottery vessels. Given the difficulty of transporting large quantities of liquid in heavy pots, the wort and ale was probably made on site. Although some may consider this idea to be speculative, it is based upon the practicalities and the science of malting and brewing. There is so much more to grain processing than the daily grind. Assumptions that, in the neolithic, grain was ground into flourto make bread orwas used for porridge or gruel do not stand up to scrutiny. Unmalted grain has a hard husk, and is almost impossible to grind on a saddle quern. Malted grain, however, is soft, friable and very easily crushed, producing copious fine flour as well as chaff. Malting is, in fact, the easiest way of dehusking grain; a simple, basic process rarely discussed in the context of neolithic agricultural practices and food preparation techniques. The crafts of maltster and brewer have been neglected in interpretations of neolithic domestic and ritual sites. Malt is partially germinated grain, and any grain can be malted. Upon germination, enzymes begin to convert grain starch into sugars. Bere, a primitive six row hulled barley, may have been grown in neolithic Britain. It is the only barley that can be used for both milling and 30] British Archaeology] January February 2008 malting. Wheat is the best grain for bread because of the high gluten content, and oats are most useful for making porridge. The transformation of grain into malt, wort and ale is an ancient biotechnology, unchanged across the millennia and originating in the Near East. It could be argued that malting was the first technique of grain processing discovered and that it played a major role in the origin of grain agriculture over 10,000 years ago. The evidence for malting and brewing in neolithic Europe and Britain is clear to see, once the processes are understood. Possible germinating barley grain (malt) has been identified in the neolithic levels of Pool on Sanday, Orkney, excavated during the 1980s by John Hunter (see Books, this issue). Crushed malt is mashed to make sugars. Malt is the prime ingredient for ale although the mash and wort can be consumed in other ways. Wort is rich in B vitamins and can be mixed with milk to make a nutritious malted drink, or it can be fermented into ale. Malting, mashing and brewing can be understood as ritual grain processing activities; specific processes, conditions and activities are necessary for the successful manufacture of the desired products. Making wort and ale from malt requires copious water, for the saccharification and sparging (washing liquid malt sugars from the mash using hot water) and the washing of pots and equipment, which inevitably become sticky. Drains are therefore useful and drainage systems have been found at several Orcadian neolithic sites, for example, Skara Brae and Rinyo. The recent excavations at the neolithic site close by the Ring of Brodgar (www.orkneyjar. com) have uncovered a substantial drain and also a building very similar to House 2 at Barnhouse. Barnhouse, excavated during the 1980s, provides some of the most convincing evidence for malting, mashing and brewing in neolithic Britain. Barley husks and hearths were found, with a network of drains. Colin Richards and Andrew Jones refer to vessels being used as "liquid containers" for some form of unidentified "liquid brew" (Dwelling Among the Monuments, McDonald Institute 2005). I believe that this could have been sweet wort, transformed into barley ale. Residues including animal fats and barley lipids have been identified in the fabric of Barnhouse Grooved Ware sherds using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Animal fats may have been the contents, or a sealant for the pot. Barley lipids are very good evidence for the wet processing of malt for sugars and ale, as they are Top left: Modern unmalted barley. The husk is extremely hard. Unmalted grain cannot be ground into fine flour using a saddle quern, and is not digestible Top centre: Malted bere, an ancient barley (note skinny grains). Malted barley, in which germination breaks down the husk, is the prime ingredient for ale Top right: Husks and white grain starch in crushed malted modern barley. Fine malt flour is easily made. Excavated barley husks might indicate malting Above: Crushed malt and water heated gently in a pot (mashing). The nutritious sweet liquid (wort) can be fermented into ale and preserved and flavoured Opposite: The smooth clay floors of some of the "houses" recently excavated at Durrington Walls could have been used for malting liberated from the grain husk by sparging. It is unlikely, if not impossible, for barley lipids to migrate from the grain husk into the fabric of pottery vessels by dry storage. The pottery assemblage was suitable for the manufacture and consumption of ale. Few very large vessels were represented and there were many small vessels. Houses 3 and 6 might provide evidence of malting floors. They were well- maintained, kept in a state of cleanliness and frequently refloored. Malting and brewing were a part of a complex and only partially understood ritual and domestic way of life in the neolithic. The crafts have been neglected in interpretations of these early agricultural communities, and is about time to acknowledge the skills of the early maltster and the brewer. Merry n Dineley is a former adult education teacher, now a tour guide and volunteer ranger for Historic Scotland at the Orkney World Heritage Site. She is married to a craft brewer British Archaeology | January February 2008131