DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1308908. ARK: https://n2t.net/ark:/49934/13.

Abstract. Alcohol consumption is not just a current phenomenon; archaeological findings demonstrate that many ancient civilizations around the world also made fermented beverages from a variety of products, including maize. However, the archaeological study of fermented beverages is not straightforward because the raw materials used in alcohol production are recovered only under exceptional conditions of preservation and the equipment remains are fragmentary. In this paper, our aim is to consider how ethnographical and ethnohistorical data may be used to better interpret the potential archaeological evidence for the production of fermented beverages. Here we use as an example the Middle Horizon site of Marayniyoq, from the Peruvian central highlands to discuss the production of fermented beverages.

Keywords: production, maize, beer, Wari, Ayacucho, Peru.

L. M. Valdez (lidio9@yahoo.es) received his doctorate in 1998 from the Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary. He has taught at several Canadian universities, including the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, the University of Victoria, and Trent University. Currently he teaches at MacEwan University, University of Lethbridge and the University of Alberta. His research includes the Andean Middle Horizon period, the Nasca culture from the Peruvian south coast and the pre-Inka and Inka occupations in the Ayacucho Valley of Peru.

K. J. Bettcher received her MA in 2001 from the Department of Anthropology, Trent University. She has participated in several archaeological studies both in the Ayacucho Valley of central Peru and the south coast region of Peru. Her research interest includes the study of children and childhood in the ancient Central Andes.

J. E. Valdez received his Licenciatura in 2002 from the Facultad de Ciencias Sociales of the University of Huamanga, Ayacucho, Peru. He has conducted several archaeological fieldworks in the Ayacucho Valley, with focus on the Middle Horizon. Currently he teaches at the University of Huamanga.

How to cite this publication:
Valdez, L. M., K. J. Bettcher & J. E. Valdez. 2010. Production of Maize Beer at a Wari Site in the Ayacucho Valley, Peru. Arqueología Iberoamericana 5: 23-35. http://www.laiesken.net/arqueologia/archivo/2010/05/2_en.

Publication date: 31-3-2010.

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