Writer – Alex
Editor - Clare
Sugar has a long and varied history. Long associated with the slave
trade of the New World, sugar was an in demand luxury item well before the
later 16thC mass production that made it truly common. [NOTE: Beet sugar
production lies well outside SCA period (around 1750) when the process of
heat/steam extraction was discovered (Mintz 1999)].
Sugar cane is first mentioned in a European context by Emperor Darius’
soldiers in 510BC. The soldiers found “reeds which produce honey without bees”
near the Indus River. Sugar cane was also mentioned centuries later, in 327BC,
by Alexander the Great's generals in western India as ‘reeds of honey’. (Powers
2002, Mintz 1999) Its roots however, lay in Guinea (Mintz 1999) where the cane
[Saccharum officinarum] is thought to have first appeared. Sugar cane
then moved across the sea into southern Asia and from there slowly crept
towards the Middle East.
In turn, the Persians learnt sugar making from the Indians (around 540
AD) and the Arabs subsequently learnt this skill whilst conquering (641 AD) the
Persians (Powers 2002). Given its need for a warm temperate climate, sugar
found a natural home throughout Egypt, Cyprus, Palestine, Sicily and Moorish
Spain as well as Syria, Jordan and Morocco. The Arabic influence pushed sugar
production through these regions, which is easily evidence through the large
number of sugar mills and refineries excavated in those areas. (Burke 2004,
Stern 2001). Sugar was first introduced into Moorish Spain around 755AD (Mintz
1999) where small plantations can still be found.
The availability of sugar spread along the Mediterranean with the help
of knights returning from crusade (13thC). Those same crusaders also drew it to
the attention of the northern European countries. As the demand for sugar
spread through Europe, the need for honey lessened. Sugar began to fill the
traditional sweetener/preserver role that honey had traditionally filled more
and more. (Mintz 1999).
The use of sugar has changed inline with its availability (Mintz 1995).
Through times of limited/costly supply it was primarily used as a medicinal,
and figured prominently in Black Death remedies throughout Europe (Powers
2002). The Apothecary Colleges spearheaded the sale and supply of sugar through
Europe (Powers 2002) as an accidental adjunct to their trade of medical cures
and spices (Laughran 2003).
...instead of being
obtainable only in the shops of apothecaries, who kept it for the sick, as
before, sugar is now eaten for appetite alone. That which was once a remedy now
serves as food.
Abraham Ortelius, writing in
1572 (Powers 2002)
As sugar crept into more common usage it appeared in more and more
recipes and contemporary cook books. This also saw it start to displace honey
in recipes due to its ability to sweeten without affecting the taste (Mintz
1999). Any number of recipes referencing sugar can be found in such SCA-period
manuscripts/books as A Forme of Cury, Le
Menagier de Paris, Boke of Kokery, and
Gentyll manly Cokere.
Theatrum sanitatis codice
4182 della R Biblioteca Casanatense Rome
There are a number of types of sugar that are referenced. These include
white (inc. powdered and casting), muscovado, mellis, refined, thrice-boiled,
molasses, brown and candy sugar. (Gutierrez 2007) Each was named for the amount
or method of processing undertaken, with white sugar being the highest quality
and most refined.
Throughout SCA period sugar was sold to users as a cone shaped ‘loaf’,
often wrapped in a blue cloth (which highlighted the white colour, and
therefore purity, of the cone). It was also sold in ‘boxes’ or ‘cases’ and
‘barrels’ (Gutierrez 2007)
Historically the want for more and better quality, sugar drove the mass
growth of the sugar refining industry through ancient to medieval to moderns
times. Our human desire for sweet, candied products and the ‘luxury’ status
that they hold comes from the continued acknowledgement and association with
the long arduous methods of processing and refining, and our ability to place
great value on the time and effort involved.
The manufacture of sugar is covered in the section titled Sugar
Production below.
Writer – Alex
Editor - Clare
Humans seem to have an insatiable lust for this sweet crystal which has
driven the exponential growth of the sugar industry into the modern era.
Even in pre-medieval times, the production of sugar was a well
established ‘industrialised’ process. The methods and processes used in the
production have only, over time, been moved away from small labour intensive
methods to larger mechanically based methods. The addition of animal driven
mills, water powered presses and specifically designed buildings all aimed
towards producing superior products, with less effort and cost.
However, the costs of sugar production were not solely monetary. Without
the development of an adequate rotational crop process, intensive cane
harvesting depleted the soil of nutrients over a period of several
years/decades (Moore 2005). As the demand for sugar increased soil fertility
also decreased, making it necessary to have more labour on farms/plantations to
manage the land along with the cane itself. As demand grew, and soil fertility
fell, more and more pressure was applied to finding new lands and areas to
cultivate sugar cane. The rise and fall of production has been evidenced in
many areas of Europe (Powers 2002, Moore 2005, Mintz 1999), and the discovery
of the New World added new lands of an ideal climate, much needed for the
production levels required to support demand.
The biggest problem for the sugar industry was adequate supply of
labour. The higher the demand was for sugar, the more plantations/farms were
required to produce cane. Pre-1600 sugar refining was still a labour intensive
process, even with the addition of mechanical aides. The link between the slave
trade and sugar production in the Caribbean is well established and slaves were
sent in droves to supply the harvesting and refining workforces required. The
transportation of massive amounts of slaves, predominately from Africa (New
Internationalist 2003), to the Caribbean allowed a plantation style production
of sugar to be developed. Slaves were a much cheaper workforce than farmers,
they were also considered both expendable and easily replaceable (Mintz 1999).
Aside from having a viable area to grow the sugar cane and an
appropriate workforce to cultivate it, sugar refining required large amounts of
wood fuel to support the boiling processes (Moore 2005). One of the largest
problems for the sugar refining industry was keeping the supply of wood resources
to the boiler rooms for final production. In some instances the boiling process
was transferred to other places, particularly from Caribbean islands back to
the home country, in an effort to keep costs at a minimum. This also
occasionally involved the transport of wood to the islands for the boilers, but
was considered an expensive last resort (Moore 2005).
The cultivation and processing of sugar was of necessity linked. There
is a need to process sugar cane as close to harvesting as possible (Mintz 1999)
to allow the most sugar juice to be collected. Sugar cane is harvested by
trimming the cane off close to the ground. With its thick, hard stems this
required sharp 'machetes' and lots of strong backs to harvest. Processing the
cane started as soon as it was harvested, with carts, animals and humans used
to transport the cane from the field directly to the mill.
The sugar mill went through a number of technological developments over
time. At first the cane was hand cut into short lengths and then pressed
through two rollers (much like washing wringers of old) to extract the juice. A
millstone would later replace the rollers and would be further adapted to be
animal or water driven (Burke 2004). Once the cane was milled the cane mass
would be further pressed to release as much juice as possible (Burke 2004). The
presses used are very similar to those used to press apples, olives and other
fruits. These presses were human driven for the most part or water powered. At
each step of the process any liquid produced was kept and added to the boiling
processing.
Nova Reperta - Jan van der
Straat - 1584
Several developments for the preparation of the cane before processing
were also implemented. At first the sugar was put through the rollers raw and
fresh cut (Burke 2004). Later, this changed so that the cane was cut into
manageable pieces and then boiled before being milled. This allowed the mill to
more easily separate the fibers, as they were softer, and extract more of the
available juice. The water used for boiling was also processed, as it would
contain a great deal of juice, which was naturally extracted through the
boiling process.
The changes in design for the mill/refining buildings showed
considerable thought for the quality of product. The refining process was
brought together under the one roof, allowing quick transfer from
pre-processing to mill to press and then to boiling and setting, with storage
close by. These processes mostly occurred within the same large room, with an
externally accessed room to house the boiler furnaces. (Burke 2004) The furnace
room had no direct connection to the processing facility. Its door open
externally to the processing room and faced away from the external doors of the
processing facility. The boiling 'coppers' sat in large stone recesses whilst
the furnace heated the stone slab from underneath. (Yvon 2011) This all meant
that very limited amounts of soot or smoke was allowed into the processing
rooms and helped ensure quicker processing of a higher quality product by
shortening the impurity removal times.
Once the cane was milled and pressed, the juice from all steps was
collected and then refined through boiling to allow evaporation of excess water
and to start the crystalisation of the sugar. The boiling of the sugar juice
would take place over several hours and pass through several different
‘coppers’. (Yvon 2011) Sugar was boiled/cooked several times by passing from
one 'copper' to another each at decreasing heat levels. At the end of the
boiling, the liquid (a thick, heavy 'molasses') was set into the ceramic sugar
cones for the final stages.
The boiling 'copper' used in sugar production was a large, shallow
conical pan. Whilst there are some examples of 'coppers' being made from iron
(Yvon 2011, Burke 2004), the areas known for their high quality sugar used only
purely copper 'coppers'. Whilst it is unclear if the link between quality and a
copper 'copper' was known at the time, modern techniques for sugar and sugar
product making insist on copper pans and bowls. This is for two reasons.
Firstly copper is highly conductive to heat thus producing a very evenly heated
surface which helps the sugar juice to reduce without burning. And secondly
(through modern chemistry), sugar reacts with copper in such a way that allows
it to crystalise quicker. The use of copper when producing products with
natural sugars is still prevalent today, particularly within the brewing
industry where it is an integral part of the distillation process.
Of all the ‘tools’ required for sugar production, the highest consumed
products were the ceramic sugar cones and molasses jars (Burke 2004, Gutierrez
2007, Yvon 2011, Blockley 1978). A massive industry was developed in ceramics
alongside the sugar industry to meet this demand. The final sugar juice was set
into sugar cones for crystallisation. These cones were in turn set on top of
molassess collection jars. Early examples of sugar cones were made from a
number of materials, such as reeds or twigs, however ceramics soon outstripped
all other styles through the ease of mass supply.
The cones were mostly an unglazed ceramic (often redware or coarseware)
shaped like inverted pyramids with a hole in the bottom (Blockley 1978,
Gutierrez 2007, Morris 2001). This hole was initially plugged with a piece of
sugar cane and the boiled syrup was poured in (Morris 2001, Burke 2004). The
plug was removed once crystallization had begun to allow the drainage of the
molasses into the collection jars away from the formed crystals. The process of
setting the cones was very long and required a dry, dust free environment.
Water was poured through the cone at several points to allow as many impurities
as possible to be removed.
Example of a cone mould on a collection pot
with a set cone next to it.
The liquid in the jars was collected and either sold as molasses or
boiled a second time (Burke 2004). It was generally used in such things as
cooking and baking, and as a substitute for both sugar and honey. The
collection jars were drained into small caskets for easy shipping (Mintz 1999).
Unfortunately, from an SCA perspective, the use of molasses to produce rum sits
outside period (Tuffin 2012).
At the beginning of the 17thC the process of ‘claying’ the cones was
common practice (Morris 2001). The cone was removed from the molasses jar and
set on another empty jar for this process. A layer of very watery clay was then
added to the top of the cone and allowed to trickle through the cone removing
more impurities as it went. The cone again had water poured through it to
remove all traces of the clay.
Once the sugar was set into the cones, the cones and jars were left for
a minimum of a month in a dry, well ventilated, clean warehouse. It is here
that the cones were treated with water and clayed, and left to dry and set.
After the cone had been clayed and dried, the cone was removed from the mold.
The removal process often resulted in the ceramic molds being broken. At times
the sugar crystals would adhere to the cone surface and inhibit the removal of
the mold, forcing the mold to be broken off instead (Burke 2004).
Many regions produced sugar cone molds and associated jars as part of
their ceramic industry. Large sales of molds and jars from England (Blockley
1978), Portugal (Gutierrez 2007) and France (Mintz 1999) are found and most are
transported far from their production countries, throughout the Middle East and
later the Caribbean. Ship manifests show numerous listings for trade and
transportation (Powers 2002). In some cases, where clay was locally available,
an additional building within the refinery complex would house a pottery studio
onsite. These tended to solely produce cones and jars, and were staffed by
slaves who were taught the very basics needed to produce them (Burke 2004).
This self-reliance on locally produced cones and jars was also impacted by the
availability of wood for firing the kilns and would be at least partly why
trade for these items is so high.
When the 'loaf' was removed from the cone it was wrapped in blue paper
or linen. This highlighted the white colour, and therefore purity, of the cone
as well as protected it prior to transport and then sale (Powers 2002).
The production of sugar was a very well established industry. The
methods used to produce sugar changed little during SCA-period, other than to
employ newly available technology in attempts to meet market demand. The
application of this new technology allowed for much higher levels of product
being available and reduced the initially inhibiting costs. Sugar progressed
from a very valuable, highly sought after good, to one available to most
households over a few centuries.
-,- (2003) "Slave Sugar" New Internationalist 363.
December 2003, 26-27.
Blockley, K (1978) "Post-Medieval Pottery Production at Woolwich"
London Archaeol 3, no.6 pp.153-8.
Burke, K.S (2004) "A note on Archaeological Evidence3 for Sugar
Production in the Middle Islamic Periods in Bilād al-Shām." Mamluk Studies
Review, VIII-2.
Gutierrez, A (2007) "Portuguese coursewares in early modern
England: reflections on an exceptional pottery assemblage from
Southampton" Post-Medieval archaeology, 41 (1) pp. 64-79.
Laughran,
M (2003) "Medicating With or Without 'Scruples': The 'Professionalization'
of the Apothecary in Sixteenth-Century Venice" Pharmacy in History,
Vol.45 No.3 pp.95-107.
Mintz,
S. W. (1999) "Sweet Polychrest." Social Research, Spring99,
66(1): 85-101.
Moore,
J. W. (2005) Stalking Modernity: Sugarcane and the Political Ecology of
Europe's Colonial Expansion, 1450-1750. Conference Papers -- American
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Morris, E.L (2001) "Sugar-Refining Ceramics - with a Petrological
Report on Red Eearthenwares including Sugar-Refining Ceramics by Wayne A.
Hardwick" Theme Four, Channel 4 Time Team Artefacts.
Powers, B&C (2002) "How Sweet It Was: Cane Sugar from the
Ancient World to the Elizabethan Period" http://www.maggierose.20megsfree.com/sugar.html
Tuffin,
G (2012) "RUM OF REBELS & RAPSCALLIONS." Bars & Clubs(66):
50-59.
Yvon, T (2001) "The Provenance of Refining Pottery in Guadeloupe:
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