Brewing an Iron Age Anatolian Ale

During the most recent “Ale through the Ages” brewing series (February 4^th 2010) , we brewed up an Iron Age Anatolian Ale, which is based on molecular archaeological analysis of residues found inside bronze vessels found in a 2750 year old tomb of a king at the site of Gordion in modern Turkey (McGovern 2009:134).  In 2000, Dogfish Head Brewery recreated this recipe in a widely celebrated version called “Midas Touch” (Calagione 2006:146).  Therefore, using this basic recipe as a basis for our experimental Anatolian Ale, we brewed 10 gallons of what is sure to be a deliciously strong beer, reminiscent of a barely wine.  It had an original Gravity of 1.074 which was fermented for three days at room temperature, before adding the very sweet Muscat grape concentrate.  We can expect this unique golden ale to be full bodied with a distinct grape finish, which both will gain strength and character with age.

Who Were The Phrygians?

Gordion became the royal seat of the Phrygian culture who originally migrated into Anatolia (Turkey) from Southeastern Europe ca. 1200 BCE. They were a sophisticated culture and drew influence from a variety of Mediterranean and Near East traditions. They spoke their own language and even created an alphabet, which was based on a combination of Greek and Semitic. However, their cultural influence declined after a defeat by the Cimmerians of the southern Caucasus Mountains in 695 BCE. In 278 BCE., King Nicomedes I of Bithynia (an ancient kingdom located just to the east of modern Istanbul) welcomed 20,000 European Celts (known as Galatai) to establish their presence at the ancient city of Gordion. They marched into northwestern Anatolia with thousands of warriors, civilians and merchants and quickly took up residence.

Where is Gordion?

The site of Gordion is located about 60 miles southwest of Ankara in central Turkey. Identification of Gordion is based on geographical information from ancient authors, as well as the archaeological evidence uncovered over the past century, mainly by the University of Pennsylvania Museum 1950s -1990s (Young,  De Vries, Sam, Sumner, Voigt, et al.).  The site is situated in an agriculturally rich valley, ideal for cereal grain cultivation.  In addition to the remains of several buildings identified as possible breweries/bakeries at Gordion of charred grains, germinated barley, grinders, ovens and ceramic vessels indicative of beer consumption have also been identified at Gordion.

When was the King Buried?

Particularly noteworthy evidence of a fermented beverage came from the residues found inside a large number of bronze vessels that were buried with a 60-65 year-old male who was laid to rest inside a wooden tomb, over which an enormous earthen mound was constructed.  Known as Tumulus MM (Midas Mound), this elaborate burial was believed to have been for a Phrygian King, initially interpreted to be King Midas.  However, recent tree ring analysis of the tombs timbers indicate a construction date of 740BCE, several decades before King Midas was known to have assumed the Phrygian throne. Therefore, it may be the burial of his father Gordios, after which the city became known.

What was this Kings Drink?

Buried with this elderly king were 14 pieces of wood furniture believed to have been used as serving and dining tables for a funerary banquet eaten by the mourners during the burial ceremony. There were also three large bronze cauldrons that could hold at least a 150 liter capacity.  A lion-headed bucket (situla) and a ram-headed situla were also discovered in addition to two jugs with long spouts, nineteen small jugs and at least 100 bronze drinking bowls.

Upon closer scrutiny of the residues found inside these vessels, it was determined by Dr. Patrick McGovern at the University of Pennsylvania Museum that these residues included Calcium Oxalate which is indicative of barley fermentation, tartaric acid, which indicates grape wine, as well as beeswax compounds, which suggests a fermented honey or mead addition.  The resulting “Phrygian grog” as McGovern calls it (ibid), was likely a braggot style ale fermented with barley, grapes, honey, and the potential addition of saffron for color, taste and preservation.  If the Midas Touch ale is any indication of the unusually delicious flavors to expect, our recreation should be just as interesting, if not even better!

References

McGovern, Patrick

2009   Uncorking the Past: The quest for wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages. The University of California Press, Berkeley & Los Angles, CA.

Calagione, Sam

2006   Extreme Brewing: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Brewing Craft Beer at Home. Quayside Publishing Group, Beverley, MA.

What: Discovery World’s Archaeologist, Kevin Cullen, is giving a talk.
Where: Marcia Coles Community Room, Lake Park, Milwaukee
When: January 23rd at 1:00 p.m.

**This event is free and open to the public.
http://www.lakeparkfriends.org/calendar.shtml#january

This talk will cover Discovery World’s Distant Mirror Archaeology Program and particularly the use of cutting-edge archaeology surveying technology, namely, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Deceptively simple, GPR looks like a lawnmower, but acts like a CT scanner, as it uses radar signals to create a 3D picture of buried remains. In 2008, we began our geophysical archaeology survey in Juneau Park, where we began discovering evidence of a 19th century residential neighborhood which was removed to create the park. In his talk, Kevin will showcase these discoveries and Discovery World’s plans for future explorations including possible answers to some of Lake Park’s secrets and buried history. For instance, could there be evidence of other prehistoric burial mounds? Is there evidence of an Indian village in the park? Was there a tavern located inside what became the park?

This program will be a must-see for anyone interested in history, archaeology, and love of Milwaukee’s Parks.

During the latest “Ale through the Ages” brewing seminar (January 14th) we brewed a Medieval Period strong ale known as “Mumm” (also spelled mum or mumme). Mumm ale is truly an historic beer, where it earned the reputation from Germany to England as being “strong as six horses, coach and all” (Anonymous author ca.1720). Many attribute its origin to the northern German city of Braunschweig and a brewer by the name of Christian Mumme in 1492. However an invoice dated to 1390 for beer sold to the city of Braunschweig for a feast mentions the drink “mumm”. Therefore it is doubtful that, “mumme” actually derived from the name of a Christian Mumme, because the account was created 102 years before the alleged formulation (Roloff 1955:175).

By the mid 1500s more than five varieties of mumme were being brewed in Braunschweig. Over time the term “Mumme” became a general designation for “dark beer” (Mack 1911:17). By the 16th Century Mumm was being exported to England where it was enjoyed greatly as a potent tonic. It was soon copied and endured as a popular strong ale into the mid 18th Century. “…with Mr. Norbury near hand to the Fleece, a mum-house in Leadenhall, and there drank mum, and by-and-by broke up” (Pepys 1664). The decline of Mumm production in Germany began in the 18th Century due to heavy taxation in addition to changing laws. Today, very few breweries still produce Mumm(e), these include the German breweries of Nettelbeck and Wismarer.

While the brewing of mumm was a closely guarded secret, the version we brewed is based on an English recipe written in The Receipt Book of John Nott that dates to the late 1600s.

“To make a vessel of sixty-three gallons, we are instructed that the water must be first boiled to the consumption of a third part, then let it be brewed according to art with seven barrels of wheat-malt, one bushel of oat-malt and one bushel of ground beans. When the mixture begins to work, the following ingredients are to be added: Three pounds of the inner bark of fir, one pound each of the tops of the fir and birch; three handfuls of dried Carduus Benedictus [blessed thistle], two handfuls of flowers of Rosa solis [sundew]; of burnet, betony, marjoram, avens, pennyroyal, flowers of elder and wild thyme, three ounces of bruised seeds of cardamom, one ounce of bruised bayberries. Subsequently ten new-laid eggs, not cracked or broken, are to be put into the hogshead, which is then to be stopped close, and not tapped for two years, a sea voyage greatly improving the drink” (John Nott 1680).

Therefore, the following recipe is based on this English Mumm recipe and converted to a 6 gallon batch.

It required a significant amount of malted grain (nearly 20lbs of grain) to brew this strong ale, whereby resulting in a specific gravity of 1.80 (i.e. 9% -10% ABV). After the Thames River Valley yeast began to ferment the wort, all of the herbs were added three days later. Mind you, these herbs were first steeped in boiling water for 5minutes to minimize bacterial contamination.

Nevertheless, this ale is sure to be very unique in flavor and quite strong, much like a barley wine. As there are very few examples of this variety of beer still being brewed worldwide, it will be a surprise to taste how it turns out!

Keeping track of time has been a human endeavor since the dawn of humanity and arguably before our species became anatomically modern circa 190,000 years ago. As a species we are not alone in living our lives by the ebb and flow of time. All species are affected by the patterns of Earth’s cyclical movements in concert with our sun and moon, rendering changes in behavior caused by night and day, waxing and waning of the moon and predictable annual seasons. Human cultures have been marking the passage of time in both linear and cyclical systems, depending on the cosmological and socio-religious established conventions adhered to by each population.

As we move into a new year and a new decade, I’m intrigued by how our collective consciousness and indeed social organization is fundamentally dependent upon keeping track of time, both on a day-to-day level, as well as our place within the broader context of historical time. On December 31st the majority of the world’s population will count down the seconds before midnight and celebrate the birth of a new year, 2010, and the beginning of the second ten-year count of 21 one-hundred year counts. Known as the Gregorian calendar this long count of time has become the internationally accepted civil calendar used to keep track of time.

The Gregorian calendar was introduced by the Roman Catholic Pope, Gregory the thirteenth, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24th February AD 1582. The use of the notion AD, Anno Domini, is based on the beginning of the long count calendar at the year zero, or the traditionally held year of birth of Jesus Christ. Because of the widespread indoctrination of Catholicism across the world during the Middle Ages and the necessity to codify a universally acceptable day for Easter (the resurrection of Jesus), this calendar became the international de facto standard of recording time. Over time as countries began to adopt the calendar they had to account for differences between the earlier Julian calendrical system and were forced to skip forward in time between ten and thirteen days to make up the discrepancy. In this regard the British Colonies in what would become the United States lost eleven days when they adopted the Gregorian system on Thursday, September 14th 1752.

Source: Cambridge University

However, the Gregorian calendar is not a universally followed system of timekeeping. Today there are at least forty calendrical systems still in use worldwide. These are unique to each cultural and religious community and tend to be lunisolar (movement of the sun and moon) in principle. For instance the Islamic calendar is based on a lunar system of tracking time, where a crescent moon heralds a new month. Hence, the use of the crescent moon in Islamic symbolism. The first year of this calendar coincides with when the prophet Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina in Saudi Arabia, known as Hijra (AH anno Hegirae). This corresponds in Gregorian terms to the year AD 622. Therefore, 2010 in Gregorian terms is actually the year 1431 AH according to the Islamic calendar.

Archaeologically we can look to a number of “archaic” calendrical systems and astronomical observation structures that mark significant changes in seasons, namely the summer and winter solstice and/or spring and autumnal equinox. For example, I recently visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Newgrange, in the Boyne River Valley (Abhainn na Bóinne) of Co. Meath, Ireland. This impressive passage tomb built around 5,000 years ago by Bronze Age farmers is in essence both a mortuary tomb, but also a seasonal clock. As the sun rises on the eastern horizon during the winter solstice, a shaft of light shines through a window box at the front of the tomb, through the twenty meter long passage and illuminates the internal cruciform chamber. This event would have had important ritual significance for knowing when to begin planting crops and celebrating religious ceremonies.

The early civilizations of Central and South America had their own way of keeping track of time. The Mayan’s for example conceived of time as cyclical and established a complex system of tracking time. This Long Count calendar combines a day (k’in) into twenty days (winal). Eighteen winals make one tun. Twenty tuns are known as a k’atun. Twenty k’atuns make a b’ak’tun. Therefore, much like wheels inside increasingly larger wheels, each cycle records the passage of time. Many think the year 2012 is the end of the Mayan Calendar, but this is incorrect. It just means the end of the 13th b’ak’tun (394 solar years) and the beginning of the 14th b’ak’tun.

We’ll probably never know for sure when humans first started recording time. Very likely it is forgotten in the oral traditions of bygone generations and has receded into the ethereal mists of dreamtime, much like the aboriginal Australian notion of deep time. What we can say for certain is that to keep track of the time is culturally dependent and it is the clock by which we can set the rhythm of our daily lives. So when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, remember that our concept of knowing the actual time is all relative.

Brewing an Ancient Irish Mead:
Continuing with the popular brewing series “Ale through the Ages: The Anthropology and Archaeology of Brewing” on December 2nd we brewed a heather mead inspired by the drink imbibed by the ancient kings of Ireland. Having just returned from Ireland the day before, I was pleased to share photographs from Tara and other ceremonial sites in Co. Meath where ritual feasting and consumption took place as early as the Neolithic Period. We brewed 10 gallons of mead which consisted of 22lbs of honey (10 pounds were generously donated by kind folks at the Urban Apiculture Institute, three pounds of honey malt, six ounces of heather tips and two ounces of elderflowers.

We boiled the wort for a total of 20 minutes, but added the local raw honey from the Urban Apiculture Institute during the last couple of minutes to ensure maximum flavor retention. A specific gravity of 1.078 was obtained, indicating a maximum alcoholic potential of ca. 10%. Normally mead should stay in the fermenter for several months, however we will try to speed up the fermentation process and then stop it in its tracks in two weeks before bottling. Currently the mead is in a vigorous state of fermentation with blow-off hoses attached in case it overflows. These hoses will eventually be replaced with airlocks, once the rate of fermentation decreases. This mead is sure to be sweet with subtle floral hints of heather and elderflower. As with any beer or wine, aging will only improve its character and illicit visions of its glorious past.

A Mead By Any Other Name:
Mead is a wine-like alcoholic beverage principally made of fermented honey. It continues to be enjoyed around the world under different names. It can have a wide range of flavors, depending on the source of the honey, additives, the yeast, and aging procedure. A mead that contains cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg or herbs is called a metheglin. A mead containing fruit, such as raspberries, blackberries, etc. is called melomel. Meanwhile, a mead fermented with grape juice is called a pyment.

Human Procurement of Honey:
Human’s love affair with honey extends back into the unknown depths of time. Exactly how far back may never be known, however one of the earliest examples honey collecting is depicted in Matopo Hills of Zimbabwe that is circa 10,000 years old (Pager 1973:54(2)).

When it comes to apiculture, i.e. keeping bees for their honey and wax, the earliest examples come from Egypt. One notable example of beekeeping can bee seen in a stone bas relief in the tomb of Queen Pabasa at el-Asasif Egypt that is dated to ca. 2400 BCE. Moreover, in 2007 archaeologists from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University were excavating the ca. 3,000 years old ruins of Tel Rehov in northern Israel, when they uncovered the earliest archaeological evidence of beekeeping. In all, there were 30 intact beehives made of straw and unbaked clay, with a hole at one end to allow the bees in and out and a lid on the other end to allow beekeepers access to the honeycombs inside.

Etymology of “Mead”:
The earliest surviving written notation of mead comes from a hymn in the Rig-Veda, one of the sacred books of Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BCE, in which it states “In the wide-striding Vishnu’s highest footstep, there is a spring of mead.” The etymology of the word mead can be traced to the Sanskrit word, madhu, which became the Old English word Medu and the Irish word Miodh, the precursor to “mead.” Indeed, the term “honeymoon” is considered to be derived from the tradition of newlyweds drinking mead for one month (one moon) following their wedding to ensure fertility. In pre-historic Europe, mead was considered the drink of Celtic royalty and has been found in many archaeological contexts from Germany to Ireland.

Two Archaeological Examples of Mead:

While there is abundant written evidence of meads importance in Europe, from Shakespeare’s Beowulf to Odin’s thirst for mead the in Viking Sagas, there are also several archaeological sites that have yielded empirical data. One noteworthy example comes from a Celtic chieftain’s burial at the site of Hochdorf in southwestern Germany. This burial mound (tumulus) dating to ca. 550 BCE was excavated by Jörg Biel in 1978-79. Beneath the mound a log chamber was found, which held the remains of an elite male laid out on a bronze bench surrounded by drinking and feasting equipment. Of particular note was huge bronze cauldron imported from northern Italy, which contained the desiccated remains of an estimated 92 gallons of mead. Moreover, there were nine large gold decorated drinking horns, (likely from the extinct auroch), the largest of which hung above the chieftain’s head and could hold 10 pints of mead.

An example of the importance of mead in Ireland can be seen at the ancient royal site of Tara in County Meath, which at one time was the royal seat for the high-kings of Ireland. Most of the archaeological remains at the site were used as burials and open-air enclosures for ceremonial purposes. Today there are around thirty visible earthworks immediately around the hill of Tara’s summit and at least 30 more have been revealed through aerial photography and geophysical prospection (Fenwick and Newman 2002). Of specific interest is the presence of a huge banquette hall called Tech-Midchuarta or “Mead Hall.” Built around the 5th – 8th Century, this massive structure was 250 meters x 30 meters and was intended to unite the ceremonial landscape of Tara. An illustration in the Book of Leinster (AD 1100) shows a seating arrangement at the great mead hall, highlighting the entrenched social stratification during this period.

On November 3rd at Discovery World in Milwaukee Wisconsin, we brewed our second ancient ale of the season, a Mayan Maize Ale, as part of the adult education series “Ale Through the Ages: The Anthropology and Archaeology of Brewing” .

The recipe is inspired by what an alcoholic beverage may have tasted like in Central America over 1,000 years ago. Archaeological and Ethnographic evidence suggests that pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica brewed a fermented alcoholic beverage using corn and cacao as the primary ingredients. Spanish chroniclers described how the Yucatan Indians (descendants of the Maya) made a foaming drink from cacao and maize which was very savory and which they used to celebrate their feasts. This most recent ale of the ages is an attempt to recreate what these alcoholic beverages of ancient Mesoamerican may have tasted like.

Corn (Zea mays) or maize (a Spanish derivation of the Tiano word maiz) was first domesticated around 6000 B.P. (Before Present) in the Tehuacán Valley of Mexico. What initially began as a wild grass called teosinte, evolved into one of the most important staple crops on the planet. Today there are thousands of varieties of corn grown worldwide.

There are many modern examples of brewing corn beer throughout the Western Hemisphere. Most often it is called Chicha, where the traditional method involves the maize being chewed and then spit into a pot or bowl. Natural enzymes in the mouth aid in converting the starch in the corn into fermentable sugars. This mash is then boiled and let to naturally ferment. Today, the Tarahumara indigenous people of Chihuahua in northern Mexico regularly brew a corn beer called Tesguino, which is consumed in large quantities during ceremonial occasions. While we did not spit in our Mayan Maize Ale, a small batch of authentic chicha was made following the traditional method.

Archaeological Examples of brewing with Maize and Cacao in South and Central America

Recent archaeological excavations by a team from The Field Museum in Chicago and The University of Florida uncovered the remains of a brewing complex on the mountain top site of Cerro Baúl in southern Peru. The complex was built by the Wari culture (AD 600-1000) in which stones supported a row of 12 large pottery jars capable of holding 150 liters of liquid each. It is believed that the brewery was capable of producing hundreds of gallons of corn-based beer per week. Further evidence suggests that women were the primary brewers at the site, based on the presence of at least 10 shawl pins that were found on the floor of the brewery, which was ritually burned down around 1000 years ago.

Archaeologists from Cornell University working at the site of Puerto Escondido in northern Honduras have recently found the earliest evidence of drinking fermented cacao. Chemical analyses performed on the pottery sherds, some of which were over 3,000 years old, that recovered from the site contained residues of Theobromine, a conclusive fingerprint that fermented cacao was once served in these jars. It is assumed that this chocolate based beer may have reached 5% alcohol by volume.

November 10th marked the bottling of the Mayan Maize Ale. We added a bit more cocoa powder and and 3/4 cups of corn syrup to the batch prior to bottling. The bottling went extremely efficiently, resulting in a total of some 60 12oz. bottles. It should be ready for consumption by mid December and ought to have a distinct maize flavor with a delicious chocolate body with a hint of serrano pepper on the end. Final Alcohol by volume is anticipated to be around 5.5%.

October 7th 2009 marked the second season of Discovery Worlds exploration and indulgence into the ancient tradition of brewing beer, during an adult program called “Ale through the Ages: The Anthropology and Archaeology of Brewing”. An enthusiastic group of adults were on hand to witness and partake in the brewing exercise, while enjoying a variety of beers generously donated by Lakefront Brewery Inc.

The newest experimental ale resurrected from the depths of brewing history, is a German style rye-based ale we call a Rhineland Roggenbier. While beer production has been a human innovation for at least 10,000 years in parts of eastern and western Asia, central Europe and Germany in particular were late comers in comparison. For example, a burial excavated in 1935 near the village of Kasendorf, in northern Bavaria contained a male individual from the Celtic Hallstatt period, ca. 800 BCE. Among the artifacts buried with him was an amphora-shaped vessel with the remnants of a black wheat beer inside of it. Thus far, this marks the earliest archaeological evidence of beer consumption in Germany.

Hallstatt Period grave goods from Kasendorf Germany ca. 800 BCE

The use of rye (Secale cereale) in beer production certainly predates the German purity law (Reinheitsgebot) of 1516 that declared “… in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops and Water…” Rye was omitted because it was deemed a vital food source, so as not to be depleted for excessive beer production. Prior to the early 16th century quality control measure, the use of rye in brewing beer was a commonality throughout northern Europe, because it is very tolerant of cooler climates and can grow in more acidic soils than wheat or barley. The plant itself was likely first domesticated in eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran during the Neolithic Period ca. 5000 BCE, but doesn’t begin to show up in central Europe in its domesticated form until the late Bronze Age ca.1800-1500 BCE (Zohary & Hopf 2000:75). In Europe, it likely grew as a weed in the crop fields of early farmers, until its largest grains were isolated and selected for continued cultivation, i.e. domestication.

Therefore, this roggenbier is inspired by references to rye ales that were being brewed in southern Germany during the Roman and Early Medieval periods. Indeed, the Roman author Publius Cornelius Tacitus wrote in the year 98 that “the Germanii serve an extract of barley and rye as a beverage that is somehow adulterated to resemble wine” (De origine et situ germanorum). Moreover, in 1256 the author Aldorbrandino of Siena Italy wrote that ale made from “rye or rye bread with mint and wild celery as additives was the best kind of beer” (Li Livres dou Santé).

Specific Gravity 1.044

Prior to pitching the European ale yeast on the morning following the brewing session of Wednesday October 7th, a specific gravity reading was taken. The hydrometer settled on the 1.044 line, ca. 6% maximum ABV, though it will likely bottom out at around 5%. Much like a dunkelweizen, this roggenbier is expected to be amber colored with malty notes, mildly hopped and a crisp minty rye finish. Due to a large amount of sediment from the all-grain mash, it will undergo secondary fermentation in one week, followed by a bottling session here at Discovery World on October 21st.

Grain mash undergoing vermicomposting in our Biology Laboratory by hundreds of red wiggler worms (Eisenia foetida)

The final stage in this transformation of the all grain mash was recycling, in this case back to soil with the aid of hundreds of red wiggler worms. Currently they are devouring the mash in two large pails. The entire mash was mixed with equal parts soil/mulch obtained from Growing Power Inc. It is important to monitor the soil temperature for optimal decomposition and worm comfort. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to break down the grains into usable soil. Updates to follow!

Artifact Deposition into the Modern Archaeological Record

Have you ever wondered what happens to the styrofoam coffee cup that you recently tossed into the garbage bin? Once its liquid contents were consumed did you give any thought to the disposable container itself? Like most of us, the mass produced containers of our consumable society are taken for granted and quickly forgotten once they reach their designated garbage receptacles. It is precisely these disposed of pieces of our daily lives that the field of Archaeology studies, in order to understand material culture in the context of time and space. A broken piece of pottery from a 1,500 year old Woodland Period jar found along the Milwaukee River holds similar cultural meaning as an aluminum root beer can located in the same vicinity. Each elicits data pertaining to human rendered technology, cultural modes of consumption, environmental deposition, artifact preservation, etc. Yet, only a fraction of the cultural behaviors that were enacted to produce, consume and dispose of these disparately connected artifacts can ever be ascertained.

However, now with the aid of innovative technology developed by MIT’s SENSEable City Lab, modern artifacts are beginning to provide insightful information on the journey of a piece of trash through the “removal-chain.” TrashTrack uses hundreds of small, smart, location aware tags, which are part of a network of tiny locatable microeletromechanical systems currently under development. “These tags are attached to different types of trash so that these items can be followed through the city’s waste management system, revealing the final journey of our everyday objects in a series of real time visualizations.”

Data Collection Microchip

These kinds of data could have profound implications for how we think about the amount of waste we produce on a daily basis, as well as the distance and rate these objects travel over time. While this pilot program is designed for waste management purposes, the resulting data offer profound information for social scientists and certainly for future archaeologists. If someday all consumer products had similar microchips, one could locate the distribution and location of this garbage, which would be particularly important for environmentally degrading material culture, such as batteries, electronics, etc.

A Computer Midden from the Digital Age

By cultivating a more informed population about the insights gained from this technology, perhaps our collective conscience will be more cognizant about our consumptive patterns of behavior. Perhaps now we will begin to confront the mounting question of where and when our trash is disposed of and how long it remains in the environment, before it is either destroyed or recycled. Nevertheless, a more informed public can only mean a more habitable future when we begin to address the impact we are leaving in the archaeological record.

The Art and Archaeology of Me student public art projects

Vanishing are the days when scientists and artists pursued their dichotomous avenues of expression through either empirically derived text, or aesthetic façades of beauty. More and more the silos of thought and expression are merging and the boundaries between traditional academic disciplines are blurring. Take for instance the coalescence between Art and Archaeology. True these two areas of study are no strangers to each other, indeed antiquarians have been studying ancient rock art even before archaeology became a formal discipline in the late 19th Century. Nevertheless, like many arenas of science, scientific rigor takes a firm grip, which often results in the production of banal prose stocked with data tables, appendixes and often enigmatic statistical equations. While all of this data mining is crucial to establishing sound theories about past behaviors, its perpetuation can also lead to alienation of a public eager to learn about our past.

In order to mitigate this sense of alienation, those engaged in the scientific pursuit of knowledge production ought to consider the use of public art as a way to bridge the gap between the ivory towers of academia and the concrete benches of civil society. Too often are these public spaces marred by superficial commercial interests trying to sell us something; instead, why not produce substantive public art that combines sound research without any commercial interest whatsoever?

Fortunately a vivid example of this altruistic pursuit involves a public art installation on Milwaukee’s lakefront, at the corner of Lincoln Memorial Dr. and Harbor Dr.. Standing nearly 20 feet tall, four high school students are depicted along with family photos, historic and modern maps, personal artifacts and thought provoking captions. These posters along with several others attached to lampposts along Harbor Drive are the culminating visual-arts projects completed this past Spring by 25 students from Bay View High School here in Milwaukee.

This project called “The Art and Archaeology of Me” was made possible by a Milwaukee Public School and Discovery World arts partnerships grant. Each Friday for nine weeks, students from Bay View High School worked with professional staff members at Discovery World in a project-based experience to motivate academic achievement through exploration of personal and urban archaeology, with the goal of developing a visual archaeological history of their own lives.

The resulting public art display certainly enacts a sense of pride and motivation for the students who are depicted along with their personal artifacts for thousands of passer-bys to wonder what it means, thus provoking deeper conversations about the impact of the our own pasts on the present.

Therefore, this example of personal and public archaeology is an effort to increase our awareness of how our past better informs us of the present and how the present affects the future. This subtext helps to promote a deeper understanding of how to access the past, which in turn brings it to the forefront of our collective consciousness so that future generations can retain a link to their histories and a connection to an otherwise ever-changing ephemeral landscape. Perhaps then, when we begin to acknowledge and respect our individual histories, will we become more tolerant of each others unique forms of cultural expression. Clearly this is a vital lesson humanity has yet to learn.

Bay View High School Student Posters

Car ferry underway ca. 1920s

The year was 1929 and a tremendous late October storm was howling out of northern Lake Michigan. Dozens of ships labored to find safety in ports across the lake, while some chose to fight the storm and cross the 76 mile breadth of tumultuous seas between Wisconsin and Michigan. One such captain, aptly known as “Heavy Weather” McKay, made the decision to make a run for Grand Haven, MI from Milwaukee WI and risk his crew of around 50 men and his cargo of some 25 railroad cars loaded with Kohler bathtubs, Nash automobiles, barley, cheese, feed, canned peas, among other goods.

At 3:45pm on October 22nd, the 338 foot long car ferry SS Milwaukee of the Grand Trunk Railroad Company was spotted by the crew of the U.S. Lightship 95, a ship anchored 3 miles offshore serving as a lighthouse. They reported the SS Milwaukee to be pitching and rolling heavily as it disappeared into the storm heading east as 20 foot waves crashing over her steel hull.  This would be the last sighting of the car ferry before her remains were discovered on April 14th  1972 by legendary shipwreck hunters, Kent Bellrichard, John Steele and Roger Chapman in over 100 feet of water three miles off Fox Point, WI.

Divers Exploring the SS Milwaukee

As part of this years ROV Days, our third expedition to the wreck in as many years was mounted on July 20th-21st 2009, where we brought students and the public to this local maritime landmark aboard Discovery World’s tall ship the S/V Denis Sullivan, under the command of captain Tiffany Krihwan.  One of the main objectives of this seasons expedition was to employ sophisticated imaging technology to continue documenting the wreck site, using Remotely Operated Vehicles, Sector Scanning Sonar and with SCUBA divers in the water to photograph and map the wreck using conventional underwater archaeology methods.  In addition to on board education about the history of the SS Milwaukee, the passengers were able to see and participate in legitimate underwater archaeology research from the deck of a replica 19th century three-masted schooner.

ROV’s explore the wreck site

The Remotely Operated Vehicle used in this research was a VideoRay ROV, piloted by Patrick Rowe of Midwest ROV. Patrick was able to fly throughout the wreck and even enter confined spaces that were previously not recorded. Gauging by the excited reactions of those watching the wreck below us, it was a tremendous thrill and unique opportunity for the non-diving public to access this submerged cultural resource, which would otherwise be inaccessible.   The hours of ROV footage that has been recorded on this wreck provides an excellent archive of visual material to make sense of the wreck site and to document its slow decay as time goes by.

Sector Scan Sonar mosaic of  the wreck  and debris field

The Sector Scanning Sonar equipment was brought from Michigan by the Nautilus Marine Group led by Brian Abbott and David Thompson. This scanning system uses high resolution sonar technology to imaging the wreck site while sitting in a tripod on the lake bottom. By changing the placement of the tripod and the range to be scanned (30-200 foot radius) a shipwreck like the SS Milwaukee can be mapped in a matter of hours. We were able to get several very good scans of the wreck site, which picked up debris around the wreck that was previously unknown. The advantage of this system is that anomalies can be measured to the centimeter both in terms of overall size, but also how far off the bottom they are.  These data will result in the most detailed map of the shipwreck site.

Kevin Cullen (left) and Kimm Stabelfeldt (right) drawing the wreckage

Finally, by actually diving down to the stern (back end) of the wreck allowed for a more vivid interaction with the wreck by measuring specific features, such as the car deck (30′ diameter) each propeller measured 12′8″ in diameter, a car tire at the stern had an overall diameter of 2′5″. This sea gate measured 5′ in height, but was likely not high or thick enough to withstand the incredible force of the swamping waves, which resulted in bending the gate in and thus flooding the crews quarters at the stern of the ship. After scraping away a two inch layer of zebra mussels, a large crack measuring 1′8″  was noted running down the port hull where the sea gate was attached. Based on this evidence and the crumpled state the sea gate is in as it hangs off the stern, it now seems probable that some of the railroad cars came loose smashed through the sea gate. In fact the remains of a railroad car can be seen beneath the enormous propellers, which tells us it sank to the bottom before the ship sank and landed right on top of it.

All together, this years human and technological “eyes in the deep” resulted in new information about the demise of the SS Milwaukee and current state of preservation. Moreover, by engaging the public in expeditions of this nature, it no doubt fosters a greater appreciation for our collective maritime history, while bringing awareness to the thousands of shipwrecks throughout the Great Lakes. It is because of these underwater museums that we owe a debt of gratitude to, for their efforts in fueling the growth of the American economy.

Read more coverage by Stan Miller of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published July 31st in the Cue Section

http://www.jsonline.com/features/technology/52088367.html