Archeologists in southeastern China found evidence of ancient rice beer in a number of ceramic vessels they unearthed.
According to the study, which was published in PLOS ONE, The vessels were unearthed in a burial site called Qiaotou. The site was a raised platform that held two skeletons, and the vessels, which are the oldest painted pottery in the world to be discovered, were buried beside them. Because they were found in the burial site, the research team believes that beer was consumed ritually in the time it comes from - perhaps to honor the dead.
Aside from bowls and jars, seven long-necked hu pots were found among the vessels. These pots were known to hold alcohol in later historical periods. Because of this, the researchers analyzed the microfossil residues from inside the pots and found that the pots held rice beer crafted from a mold starter 9,000 years ago.
"Our results revealed that the pottery vessels were used to hold beer, in its most general sense - a fermented beverage made of rice, a grain called Job's tears, and unidentified tubers," said Jiajing Wang, an archaeologist at Dartmouth College and lead writer of the study. "This ancient beer would not have been like the IPA that we have today. Instead, it was likely a slightly fermented and sweet beverage, which was probably clouded in color."
The use of rice in the beer is not surprising because, at the time, rice was beginning to be domesticated, but what is more impressive is the complicated process of fermentation.
Traces of mold, which acts as a starter in the fermentation process, were also found in the pots. Similar mold dating 8,000 was found at other archaeological sites, making the Qiaotou beer the oldest known to use mold in its fermentation process.
"We don't know how people made the mold 9,000 years ago, as the fermentation can happen naturally," said Wang. "If people had some leftover rice and the grains became moldy, they may have noticed that the grains became sweeter and alcoholic with age. While people may not have known the biochemistry associated with grains the became moldy, they probably observed the fermentation process and leveraged it through trial and error."
The discovery of the beer serves to illustrate the importance of such alcoholic drinks in ancient culture.