Science infuse : les structures archéologiques de brassage dans les Pays-Bas entre Moyen Âge et Temps modernes

Details

Supervisors

Verslype, Laurent ; Saussus, Lise

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire de l'art et archéologie, orientation générale, à finalité spécialisée: théories, gestion et sciences de l'archéologie

Abstract

enDuring the Middle Ages and Modern Times, beer was a very popular drink in the Northern and Southern Low Countries with an average consumption reaching 300 to 400 liters per person in one year. From the 12th and 13th centuries, its industry developed itself into an independent craftsmanship in the booming towns of the region. With the introduction of hops, during the 14th century, brewers were able to develop a long-distance trade and the industry experienced a long prosperity before its decline in the second half of the 17th century. Based on an archaeological corpus of 35 sites and an iconographic corpus of 29 old illustrations related to brewing, this work tries to study the breweries of the Middle Ages and Modern Times as well as their structures. Among these breweries, archaeology mainly recovers ovens, often circular, but also wells and bricked up vats. Iconography, on the other hand, also shows a lot of ovens, circular for brewing and rectangular to produce malt. However, it rather represents wooden vats and barrels alongside these ovens. As archeology usually finds little wood, the testimony of this equipment may only consist of a space left free in the excavated breweries. The end of this work is dedicated to Walhain Castle site. Located in Walloon Brabant in Belgium, this castle had a brewery known in the 15th century as reported by the accounts of its bailey. Based on a comparison with the two corpora and the account information, it appears that at one time this brewery was placed in the western area of the northeast wing of the courtyard. In this brewery next to a well, was found a circular oven made in limestone and brick measuring 2.7 m in diameter. With his heating chamber of 1.75 in diameter, it could accommodate a kettle that could produce nearly 1000 liters per brew. It covered an area of 52 m² and as such was able to accommodate the rest of the brewing equipment, like a wooden vat, even though nothing of the sort was discovered during the excavations. In conclusion, it seems that, despite some variations, the organization of beer production has kept a certain permanence over the centuries and, as such, the study of more recent breweries from de 19th and the 20th century may bring some more concrete illustrations of the old breweries operating system.