Archaeologists excavating the Raqefet Cave in the Mount Carmel region near Haifa have discovered evidence that beer was brewed there 13,000 years ago – the earliest example of alcohol production found to date.
The researchers – a joint team from the University of Haifa and Stanford University in California, found traces of beer that was brewed in the cave by the Natufian people.
The Natufians, who lived between 15,000 and 11,500 years ago, were among the first people in the world to abandon a nomadic way of life and establish permanent communities that included building structures with stone foundations. The Mount Carmel settlement was one of the most important Natufians communities, and researchers from the University of Haifa have been studying the Natufian sites on and around the Carmel for decades.
The Raqefet cave findings predate by some five millennia a site found in northern China, where alcohol was produced as early as 8,000 years ago.
Professor Dani Nadel of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa explained that the Raqefet Cave "never stops providing us with new information about the wonderful Natufian people. We've already discovered that they buried their dead and lined the graves with flowers. We've discovered their technological capabilities through a variety of tools [unearthed], and now we find that they made beer and drank it, apparently as part of special ceremonies."
Previous work at the Raqefet Cave identified three pits that had been carved into the cave rock some 13,000 years ago. The latest research examined traces of starch and phytolith (traces of silica stored in plant cells) from the sediment found in the three pits. Using a microscope, researchers discovered evidence of several types of grains that had been stored there, including wheat, barley, oats, flax and pulses. Two of the pits contained microscopic traces of starch that had undergone morphological alternation as a result of fermentation. According to the researchers, the evidence shows that the pits or holes were used to store grains before and after they were fermented into beer. The third hole contained evidence that it had been used for storage as well as for threshing the wheat, a vital stage in the fermentation process.
Researchers believe that food was stored in large baskets to make it easier for inhabitants to put it and take it out of the storage pits. Remnants of basket fibers found at the bottoms of the holes, which proved to have been twisted in the manner of fibers used to weave baskets, support the theory.
"Creating these craters in the cave rock, and then carrying out the steps needed to produce alcohol, required a lot of effort and expertise, which indicates the great ritual importance that the Natufians assigned to the production of alcohol," Nadal explained.
"Because they were the first to invest a significant effort in burial rituals, it is not impossible that the production and consumption of alcohol was part of the Natufian funeral ceremonies," the archaeologist said.
