Posted on 12/30/2009 9:14:41 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Did our Neolithic ancestors turn to agriculture so that they could be sure of a tipple? US Archaeologist Patrick McGovern thinks so. The expert on identifying traces of alcohol in prehistoric sites reckons the thirst for a brew was enough of an incentive to start growing crops... Here is how the story likely began -- a prehistoric human picked up some dropped fruit from the ground and popped it unsuspectingly into his or her mouth. The first effect was nothing more than an agreeably bittersweet flavor spreading across the palate. But as alcohol entered the bloodstream, the brain started sending out a new message -- whatever that was, I want more of it! Humankind's first encounters with alcohol in the form of fermented fruit probably occurred in just such an accidental fashion. But once they were familiar with the effect, archaeologist Patrick McGovern believes, humans stopped at nothing in their pursuit of frequent intoxication. A secure supply of alcohol appears to have been part of the human community's basic requirements much earlier than was long believed. As early as around 9,000 years ago, long before the invention of the wheel, inhabitants of the Neolithic village Jiahu in China were brewing a type of mead with an alcohol content of 10 percent, McGovern discovered recently.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
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Far, far, far, far more unlikely, than likely.
I homebrew and have three muscadine vines in the yard(20 gals clearing). Yeah, I’ve been domesticated. Turning into an old Hunky. I just wish I had a spot to grow tomatoes.
Agreed.
more bs from anthropologists...humans most likely first observed the effects of alcohol from fruit in much the same way that elephants and baboons did...by eating it late in the season when all the fruit was on the ground.
You can see how distilling alcohol could have come about from someone leaving stored fruit in a container for too long and then gradually refining the process.
I think Maslow would have to disagree with the store fruit for alcohol first and then realize you can eat it later theory.
“more bs from anthropologists...humans most likely first observed the effects of alcohol from fruit in much the same way that elephants and baboons did...by eating it late in the season when all the fruit was on the ground.”
4th sentence of the article...
“Here is how the story likely began — a prehistoric human picked up some dropped fruit from the ground and popped it unsuspectingly into his or her mouth.”
So are you agreeing or disagreeing?
Beer ping list!
Oh, I don't know...alcohol is pretty high up on MY hierarchy of needs. I need beer a LOT more than I need an apple. LOL
Yes. Beer is the reason for civilization. I’ve been saying that since my first anthropology course in the early ‘80s.
But honey, the Nevali Cori versus Çatalhöyük game is on!
Yeah, as if you can *remember* your college years... ;’) ;’) ;’)
Ug later moved his wife and family out of the cave in order to brew beer year round...
Thanks!
Ug’s Belief systems:
I believe that animals hold sacres spirits. I beleive that trees and bushes and rocks have sacred spirits too. I believe I need to wash the grain out of those clay pots. I believe I oughta do what my wife Ooma says...BUT right now I believe I’ll have a beer.
Beer may have invented civilization. But civilization invented whiskey.
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