The history of the human consumption of alcohol is closely tied to the history of the world's societies, in terms of invention, manufacture, trade, and religion. Here are a few of the stories which come out of the study of alcoholic beverages of the past.
Origins of Wine
The oldest wine identified to date is an ancient brew made of a mixture of fermented rice and honey, about 9,000 years ago at the site of Jiahu in China. This article describes the other early evidence for wine making.
Venus of Laussel
The Venus of Laussel is a 20,000 year old venus figurine, carved into the walls of Laussel Cave in France, and holding what may (or may not) be a drinking horn.
Dikili Tash (Greece)
Dikili Tash (or Philippoi) is a Neolithic tell in the eastern Macedonia region of Greece, where grape pips, pollen and pressed grape skins attest to wine-making as early 4460-4000 BC.Wine Making at Areni-1
Post of Armenia (Haypost)
Areni-1 is a cave in southwestern Armenia, with an occupation dated to between 3700-4200 cal BC. Within it is a platform and furniture which appear to represent the earliest wine production installation yet discovered.
Herbal Wines of the Scorpion King
Photograph courtesy of German Institute of Archaeology, Cairo.
The Scorpion King was the legendary founder of the ancient dynasties of Egypt. Scholars have found evidence in his tomb of the importance of wine in trade across the Mediterranean.
Barley Beer (Iron Age Europe)
Barley beer was a homemade product, brewed by the Celtic peoples of Iron Age Europe.Beer Production at Roquepertuse
Best known for its exotic cult site, the French site of Roquepertuse also holds information concerning beer-making at the household level in Iron Age Europe (ca 450 BC).
Hochdorf (Germany)
The Iron Age site of Hochdorf in Germany,about the same time asRoquepertuse, has clear evidence of mass production of beer.
Cacao
Cacao is the name of the tree and fruit from which chocolate is derived: and among its first and earliest uses was a fermented form of the juice.
Pulque
Pulque is an alcoholic beverage produced by Mesoamerican societies from the fermented sap of the maguey cactus. Its viscous, milk-colored potent liquid was the most widespread alcoholic beverage in Mexico up until the 19th and 20th century.
Is Vinland Wineland?
The Norse explorer Leif Erikson, on his brief visit to North America about 1000 AD, listed three place names within the vast continent. One was Vinland, which in Old Norse means "Wineland". But... is that what he meant?
