The invention of alcoholic beverages has different dates in the calendar of our civilization. It is believed that wine is 8,000 years old in terms of antiquity and among live cocktails, it stands as one of the oldest. Beer was thought to have a longevity of 7,000 years, but recent findings position it as one of the oldest consumable liquids in our history.
Archaeology researchers found evidence that the first rice beers were brewed in China, approximately 10,000 years ago.
The evidence of this discovery was found at the Qiaotou site, in the southeast of the giant of Asia. Within the archaeological site, ceramic vessels containing microfossils of starch, vegetables, and fungi were found, elements that are usually used for fermentation processes.
According to what the scientific team reveals, these vessels, which included jars and bell-shaped hu jars, housed a fermented beverage made with rice, a cereal known as Job's tears, and unidentified tubers, as reported by the journal Plos One.
They dare to say that the drink was sweet with a light touch of alcohol. In addition to that, they describe it as having a cloudy color, and it was used for funeral rituals.
"We focused on the identification of phytoliths, starch grains, and fungi, which allowed us to obtain information about the uses of ceramics and food processing methods employed at the site," said Professor Liu Li from Stanford University, first author of the article and corresponding co-author.
This finding also sheds light on early fermentation technology and the domestication of rice, which was crucial for the development of these communities.
An important part of this research is that scientists manage to consolidate the knowledge that rice has always been a key element in early Holocene cultures.