The researchers weren’t specifically looking for traces of ancient beer, but that’s what they found when they analyzed three 13,000-year-old stone mortars from Raqefet. The vessels contained starch residues and phytolith, microscopic plant particles that are “typical in the transformation of wheat and barley to booze,” according to a Stanford University statement. This was discovered as the world’s oldest brewery in Israel.
Archaeologists believe the location of the mortars suggests alcohol was used in “ceremonies” or some kind of social event.
Oldest beer making in the world
The earliest archaeological evidence for cereal-based beer brewing even before the advent of agriculture comes from the Natufians, semi-sedentary, foraging people, living in the Eastern Mediterranean between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic periods, following the last Ice Age. The Natufians at Raqefet Cave collected locally available plants, stored malted seeds, and made beer as a part of their rituals.
“The Natufian remains in Raqefet Cave never stop surprising us,” said Prof. Dani Nadel, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Israel, 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 cupmarks. 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.
International Women's Day 2020 #EachforEqualResearchers theorize that beer brewing may have inspired the Natufians to cultivate cereals in the region, but it’s not currently known whether beer or bread came first. The mortars dug into the cave floor were reportedly used for storing and pounding wheat and barley, as well as brewing beer.
Ancient beer-brewing was reenacted step by step.
Even the most knowledgeable craft beer drinkers today wouldn’t recognize ancient beer, which would have been closer to a thin porridge or gruel made of multiple ingredients, such as wheat, barley, oats, legumes or flax. According to the new study, the Natufians followed a three-step process: First, they germinated the grains in water, then drained and dried them, producing malt. Next, they mashed and heated them, before finally adding wild yeast and leaving the mixture to ferment.
To test their theories, the researchers actually reenacted this ancient beer-making process step by step. The result, they believe, was strikingly similar to what the Natufians brewed.
“This discovery indicates that making alcohol was not necessarily a result of agricultural surplus production,” Liu said. “But it was developed for ritual purposes and spiritual needs, at least to some extent, prior to agriculture.”
These incredible findings have changed the known-history of beer – with the previous earliest known evidence dating back 8000 years in China.
Do You Know That 18 April Is World Heritage Day?The Natufians lived in the eastern Mediterranean region up to 15,000 years ago.
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