Posted on 09/14/2018 6:08:43 AM PDT by ASA Vet
Study found the earliest evidence of alcohol production in a cave in northern Israel.Researchers have discovered the earliest evidence of alcohol production, from 13,000 years ago, in the Rakefet Cave in the Carmel, Haifa University announced Thursday.
The discovery was made in a joint archaeological collaboration project by Haifa University and Stanford University researchers.
Archaeologists analyzed three stone mortars from the 13,000-year-old Natufian burial cave site in Israel, concluding that these mortars were used for brewing wheat/barley, as well as for food storage.
The researchers explained that the earliest archaeological evidence for cereal-based brewing, even before the advent of agriculture, comes from the Natufians a semi-sedentary, foraging people, living in the Eastern Mediterranean between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods, following the last Ice Age.
The Natufians at Rakefet Cave collected locally available plants, stored malted seeds and made beer as a part of their rituals, according to the study.
The researchers found evidence of several different grains stored in mortars, including wheat, barley, oats, legumes and flax. An examination of two mortars found microscopic remains of starch grains that underwent morphological changes that correspond to changes in starch that occur in the process of fermentation.
The evidence indicates that the craters were used to store grains before and after fermentation.
Study found the earliest evidence of alcohol production in a cave in northern Israel.
Researchers have discovered the earliest evidence of alcohol production, from 13,000 years ago, in the Rakefet Cave in the Carmel, Haifa University announced Thursday.
The discovery was made in a joint archaeological collaboration project by Haifa University and Stanford University researchers.
Archaeologists analyzed three stone mortars from the 13,000-year-old Natufian burial cave site in Israel, concluding that these mortars were used for brewing wheat/barley, as well as for food storage.
The researchers explained that the earliest archaeological evidence for cereal-based brewing, even before the advent of agriculture, comes from the Natufians a semi-sedentary, foraging people, living in the Eastern Mediterranean between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods, following the last Ice Age.
The Natufians at Rakefet Cave collected locally available plants, stored malted seeds and made beer as a part of their rituals, according to the study.
The researchers found evidence of several different grains stored in mortars, including wheat, barley, oats, legumes and flax. An examination of two mortars found microscopic remains of starch grains that underwent morphological changes that correspond to changes in starch that occur in the process of fermentation.
The evidence indicates that the craters were used to store grains before and after fermentation.
In a third mortar, the researchers found evidence that it was used for storage and as a receptacle in which grains could be beaten and crushed, a necessary stage of fermentation.
Alcohol-making and food storage were among the major technological innovations that eventually led to the development of civilizations in the world, and archaeological science is a powerful means to help reveal their origins and decode their contents, said Li Liu, PhD, from the department of East Asian languages and cultures of Stanford University.
We are excited to have the opportunity to present our findings, which shed new light on a deeper history of human society.
The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
The Natufian remains in Rakefet Cave never stop surprising us, said Prof. Dani Nadel of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, who was also an excavator of the site. We exposed a Natufian burial area with about 30 individuals; a wealth of small finds such as flint tools, animal bones and ground stone implements, and about 100 stone mortars and cup marks.
Some of the skeletons are well-preserved and provided direct dates and even human DNA, and we have evidence for flower burials and wakes by the graves.
And now, with the production of beer, the Rakefet Cave remains provide a very vivid and colorful picture of Natufian lifeways, their technological capabilities and inventions, he added.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that ancient man learned how to make brewskis before he discovered the wheel.
The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle.
The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle?
The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.
The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle.
The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.
That’s right.
Oops, there been a change.
What?
They broke the chalice from the palace.
The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle.
The flagon with the dragon has the brew that is true............................
“This Bud’s for Jew!”
Of course. The wheel was invented to get the beer.
>>It wouldnt surprise me to learn that ancient man learned how to make brewskis before he discovered the wheel.
Well, man’s got to have priorities...
Or, it was stored grain that fermented on its own.
Archeology 401:
Ring of stones with grain: ancient brewery.
Ring of stones with blood: ancient altar.
Ring of stones with thorium: ancient nuclear reactor.
Let’s ask Doc.
*groan*
Is it possible the remnants of stored grain fermented during moist conditions? Nah. Where are the international headlines for that? No grant money in rotting grain.
Pingy!
Grant money. If the headlines read that they found some bins for storing grains that, over many years got moist and fermented, it wouldn’t be as attractive a reason to get more grant money and keep “studying”.
If youd like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Thanks FrogMom. I wonder what the carmel did to the flavor the bear? And, that sound you hear is a rimshot.
Can you brew beer w/o yeast?
5.56mm
So, beer before bread.
Beer led to increased need for grain which in turn led to agriculture.
Civilization is the result of the need for beer
Wow. Almost like a Friday Silliness Thread! <3
‘Face
;^)
“It wouldnt surprise me to learn that ancient man learned how to make brewskis before he discovered the wheel.”
Not sure of the order, but I’m sure the first DWI was mere days after both existed.
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