BEDFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that possible evidence of beer making has been discovered at a road construction site in the East of England. The Roman malting oven, where charred, germinated spelt grains were found, was situated on the grounds of a farmstead thought to have been occupied from the Middle Iron Age through the late Roman period. “It is possible only malt was being produced here, which was then taken to be brewed elsewhere,” said Rachel Ballantyne of the Museum of London Archaeology. The grains were probably burned by accident, she added. “This raises interesting questions about how the people living on this farm might have been interacting with neighboring communities as part of a wider trade network,” Ballantyne concluded. For more on beer brewing in the ancient world, go to "Alcohol Through the Ages."
