For age , archaeologists examine Viking remnant and artifacts in Britain had get into that sure stone structures were bathhouses , or a variety of rude sauna . But a husband - and - married woman squad has now thrown this thinking into dubiousness by suggesting that they were n’t bathhouses at all — that they were brewhouses where the Vikings made their beer .
archaeologist screw that Vikings loved their ale ; the Sagas contain a pot of denotation . And in the 10th C , Haakon Haroldson , the first Christian king of Norway , decree that Yule be celebrated on Christmas day and that “ every farmplace should brew two meal of malted into ale . ” In fact , brewing ale was so authoritative that there were fines for non - compliance ; loser to brew beer for three years in a row could result in the forfeiture of a farm .
It ’s also known that the Vikings used malt liquor to make their ale , and that it was stored in huge vats close to the imbibing hall .
But as archaeologists Merryn and Graham Dineley recentlypointed out , archaeologists have handily ignored where the Vikings actually brewed it . Since Brobdingnagian ale vats are not well moved , the ale must have been mashed and fermented near to the ale store .
That ’s where the supposed “ bath houses ” do in — and that ’s where , according to the Dineleys , the beer was brewed . And they ’d be the team to know . Merryn is an archeologist specializing in exploring ancient ale - making , and Graham is a trade beer maker specializing in hold ancient ales .
The Dineleys recently examined a stone - build installation at Cubbie Roo ’s Castle , on the island of Wyre , Orkney — a Viking stronghold of the 12th C AD . The Dineleys theorize that the structure would have made for an excellent mash oven , with the cauldron sitting above the fervour . And in fact , they say it ’s the serious model of a Viking brew house in Britain . They elbow room is well equipped with substantial drains , it has a stone shelf for the storage vats , and a drain beneath .
Moreover , it ’s place mighty beside the drink hall .
The Dineleys made their enquiry known at theExperimental Archaeology Conference , and you could hold out their posterhere(pdf ) .
range : Dineleys .
H / tZythophile .
ArchaeologyScienceVikings
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