How Beer Created Civilization

[Captain Lyerly]

Something someone said in another thread reminded me of this:

Party down! Your ancestors did, and that’s why you live in a civilized world. Or so says Brian Hayden, an archeologist at Simon Fraser University, in Canada. A key to the origin of the world we know was the cultivation of grains such as wheat and rice, but they were immensely hard work to cultivate, and provided only a small part of early civilized people’s diets. Why did anyone go to the trouble? The lure of the brew, Hayden says: “It’s not that drinking and brewing by itself helped start cultivation, it’s this context of feasts that links beer and the emergence of complex societies. . . . Beer is sacred stuff in most traditional societies.” As soon as there was domestication and cultivation there was festal celebration, and you couldn’t have festal celebration without liquid refreshment.

Some archeologists have seen beer as a key to civilization for many decades, but Hayden says the evidence is growing stronger, and he plans  to publish his findings in the journal Current Anthropology. Find out more in this report from LiveScience.com.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2010/11/09/how-beer-created-civilization/

I have felt for years that the beer came first; that in hunter-gatherer times fermented grains were used as a holy drink by the shaman, and that over time as the plants that produced those grains were honored and protected, the surplus came to help support the tribe - then irrigation came along, and vast areas were brought under cultivation.  People came together in permanent settlements in the Fertile Crescent and elsewhere, and the beer bashes religious festivals were what kept the people happy as they cultivated the grains.

So go out and support civilization tonight!



Cheers!

Chas.

[Capt. Dirigible]

When I'm at Asylum I intend to get as civilised as a newt!

[Mercury Wells]

Great Crested?

[rod-on]

The original currency in Australia was rum, beer is much more civilized!

[The Squire]

When I'm at Asylum I intend to get as civilised as a newt!

"It appears the Captain has had enough civilization!"

[Angus A Fitziron]

I feel about anthropologists the same way as Dr.Who feels about archaeologists! Why do people have to make it so complicated? Beer is nutritional stuff - it is considered by many to be one of the 5 a day necessary for a healthy life! Up and until the Victorian era, beer was drank by most of the population including minors as the small amount of alcohol in the drink made it safer to drink than the local water. Shamanism in many forms employs intoxicants but I ask you what came first? "I am a Shaman therefore I need to invent an intoxicating substance to allow me to see into the spirit world" or " hey this beer / drug / etc is really great and if I drink / eat / snort enough of it I get hallucinations - hey I'm a shaman!" I think the latter is a more likely scenario...

I am also not convinced on the argument that growing grain is a really difficult thing to do, agreed cultivation of better varieties is time consuming but I suspect we need to see the problem in the context of probably thousands of years. Certainly, very early skeletons show abrasion on teeth that is consistant with grain eating - once your teeth are worn down, if you are a wise elder and therefore of value to the community, maybe it makes sense to convert the carbohydrates in the grain into a more easily ingested form - and what's easier to ingest than beer?

Whether beer is a key to civilisation or the result of civilisation is a moot point, the really important thing is to keep drinking it just in case...

[Atterton]

Is beer really the easiest way to get intoxicated though? Why not just eat some old apples, no need to develop agriculture for that.

[TVC15]

Let's not forget about mead, gentlemen. Not sure what was brewed/fermented first but the Vikings and Egyptians managed to get a lot done with fermented honey.

[Wormster]

Is beer really the easiest way to get intoxicated though? Why not just eat some old apples, no need to develop agriculture for that.

Because grains keep longer than fruits! - see you through the dark nights of winter!

[D.Oakes]

Something someone said in another thread reminded me of this:

Party down! Your ancestors did, and that’s why you live in a civilized world. Or so says Brian Hayden, an archeologist at Simon Fraser University, in Canada. A key to the origin of the world we know was the cultivation of grains such as wheat and rice, but they were immensely hard work to cultivate, and provided only a small part of early civilized people’s diets. Why did anyone go to the trouble? The lure of the brew, Hayden says: “It’s not that drinking and brewing by itself helped start cultivation, it’s this context of feasts that links beer and the emergence of complex societies. . . . Beer is sacred stuff in most traditional societies.” As soon as there was domestication and cultivation there was festal celebration, and you couldn’t have festal celebration without liquid refreshment.

Some archeologists have seen beer as a key to civilization for many decades, but Hayden says the evidence is growing stronger, and he plans  to publish his findings in the journal Current Anthropology. Find out more in this report from LiveScience.com.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2010/11/09/how-beer-created-civilization/

I have felt for years that the beer came first; that in hunter-gatherer times fermented grains were used as a holy drink by the shaman, and that over time as the plants that produced those grains were honored and protected, the surplus came to help support the tribe - then irrigation came along, and vast areas were brought under cultivation.  People came together in permanent settlements in the Fertile Crescent and elsewhere, and the beer bashes religious festivals were what kept the people happy as they cultivated the grains.

So go out and support civilization tonight!



Cheers!

Chas.

&*%&$&@&$*^&#$()%()!*^($*^($*^*^(*)(#&$#$  I feel better now....

Well fine, since this guy seems to be beating me to the punch, here is my thought:  The vast majority of Native American tribes who farmed did so on the move.  They would plant in the spring go to another area to hunt and harvest on their way back.  Breads and soups do not require one to remain in an area for long periods of time.  On the other hand "beer," perhaps discovered by accident when somebody forgot to pull the grain out of the grist stone one week while it was raining or their was a heavy dew, (easily fermented by nature) requires heavier items such as pots which one cannot carry with them.  Such things as honey, grapes, agave, and apples could very easily have had the same start as well.  I have tried numerous old recipes (when I was underage and in college) and got a lot of compliments from wine drinkers.  Beer drinkers don't like that the ancient recipes lack hops.  The great thing about beer is that is keeps longer and in the traditional methods gets stronger the longer you keep it until it reaches a certain point where it is just nasty.  My 2 month mead was some potent stuff.   

[barb dwyer]

Shamanism in many forms employs intoxicants but I ask you what came first? "I am a Shaman therefore I need to invent an intoxicating substance to allow me to see into the spirit world" or " hey this beer / drug / etc is really great and if I drink / eat / snort enough of it I get hallucinations - hey I'm a shaman!" I think the latter is a more likely scenario...

Actually, no.
Not even a little bit
until the twentieth century.

There is in fact a complex 'system of knowledge' in place
that is not and can not be deviated from
this in order to preserve the purity
of thousands-years-old oral tradition.

There are aspects of consciousness
that exist whether science can fully explain or debunk them or not.

They are independent of explanation
in that they are only translated experiential.

The correct and appropriate use and administration of Teacher Plants
is an honorable and highly regarded part of the structure of
a community among The People.
An individual entrusted with the knowledge of Spirit
is and was a very respected member of society
and were the only means of passing down usually vast
amounts of knowledge to the next generation.

Please,
try not to let a few badly written documentaries
at best quasi-socio in flavor
give the impression that the use of these powerful poisons
were traditionally in any way recreational
nor were they offered to, or available to just anyone.

It was a privilege that had to be earned.

 

[Captain Shipton Bellinger]

Beer created civilisation?

I take a look around any town centre on Friday or Saturday night and think exactly the opposite is happening now.

[D.Oakes]

Beer created civilisation?

I take a look around any town centre on Friday or Saturday night and think exactly the opposite is happening now.

Yes, but don't you see.  It is the center of social activity.  Once we gathered round a campfire and ate the day's hunt.  Then we gathered round the hearth and drank the month's brew. 

[Capt. Dirigible]

Yes, but don't you see.  It is the center of social activity.  Once we gathered round a campfire and ate the day's hunt.  Then we gathered round the hearth and drank the month's brew.

..then we* gather round the Kebab shop at midnight and kick the sh!t out of each other...






Obviously I don't mean 'we' as in steampunks but you know what/who I mean.

[GarethG]

There is a chapter in Stephen Baxter's novel Evolution, chapter 14, that deals with the difference between Hunter-Gatherers and Town dwellers, which is personified by the latter being able to brew beer. The book follows 'humanity' (starting with our mammalian ancestors) from the age of the dinosaurs through to the future. He intersperses his tales with explanations behind his ideas (can't think of a better way of putting it, writing is not my strong point).

Gareth

[TheDedOne]

This reminds me of a documentary I found on tv once, called How Beer Saved the World. It was pretty humorous, talking about how beer started agriculture, helped build the pyramids, got Europe through the dark ages when they could drink the water, and even started the American revolution. It's a pretty interesting and entertaining look at history.

[Sholto Guinne]

My 2 month mead was some potent stuff.   

Did it ferment for two months or did it sit for two months after fermenting? I let mine ferment for a year (Over fermented it the first six months, added more honey to the original batch and let it sit another six >.> and it turned out great lol Nearly a year later (bottled in October 2010) and its still strong, but very sweet.

As for beer creating the world, it makes sense to me. Maybe not on the scale that mentioned, but most likely to an extent. Some cities were founded around beer and by extension, some countries could be considered based in lovely, tasty beer.

Personally though, do we really need a historical reason to prove beer is a good thing?

[D.Oakes]

My 2 month mead was some potent stuff.   

Did it ferment for two months or did it sit for two months after fermenting? I let mine ferment for a year (Over fermented it the first six months, added more honey to the original batch and let it sit another six >.> and it turned out great lol Nearly a year later (bottled in October 2010) and its still strong, but very sweet.

As for beer creating the world, it makes sense to me. Maybe not on the scale that mentioned, but most likely to an extent. Some cities were founded around beer and by extension, some countries could be considered based in lovely, tasty beer.

Personally though, do we really need a historical reason to prove beer is a good thing?

It fermented the whole two months with a very very strong batch of yeast.  The end product was beautiful, but very strong on the alcohol end.  I also made Brum as well.  Wine drinkers loved it, but I had not developed a taste for wine at the time. 

Well if civilization ever needs a restart...we can go back to the beginning and do it that way.  Or maybe we could one up the past and have absinthe.   

[Sholto Guinne]

Ah mkay. I used a "normal" strength yeast lol May have to swap recipes some day lol!

I'm not one for very bitter drinks so light and mellow beers and wines are my favorites right behind mead lol

As for restarting civilization, sticking with beer may be a better idea for the short term lol! From what (little) I know of absinthe, its somewhat harder to make than beer

[D.Oakes]

Ah mkay. I used a "normal" strength yeast lol May have to swap recipes some day lol!

I'm not one for very bitter drinks so light and mellow beers and wines are my favorites right behind mead lol

As for restarting civilization, sticking with beer may be a better idea for the short term lol! From what (little) I know of absinthe, its somewhat harder to make than beer

It would be a great conversation though.  
Chief: "As leader of our tribe I declare that from this day forth we shall focus on the distillation of absinthe!"  
Crowd is silent and then somebody raises his hand
Chief: "Yes?"
Townsperson:  "Isn't it still illegal?"

 

My friend's son in law returned from Afghanistan via Germany with a bottle of absinthe that is legal over here declaring how hard it was to sneak the bottle in because of absinthe being so illegal. 

[Humbolt]

Now, if you want a taste of history see if you can check out Dogfish Head's brewery in the US. It's available in most places (except for where I live, pooh) and they work with food archaeologists to create what should be close approximations of ancient brews based on residues found in drinking containers from festival sites.

[akumabito]

So stuff that makes you shitfaced and behave like a total idiot is good for civilization? Who woulda thunk it?

[Narsil]

So stuff that makes you shitfaced and behave like a total idiot is good for civilization? Who woulda thunk it?

But lets not forget that the structure of DNA  was finally cracked using beer mats in a pub

...ok there was a bit of x-ray crystallography involved as well but I'm sure that the pub was the most important bit

[D.Oakes]

So stuff that makes you shitfaced and behave like a total idiot is good for civilization? Who woulda thunk it?

But lets not forget that the structure of DNA  was finally cracked using beer mats in a pub

...ok there was a bit of x-ray crystallography involved as well but I'm sure that the pub was the most important bit

I always heard it was something else...a little more interesting. 

[J. Wilhelm]

Whether beer is a key to civilisation or the result of civilisation is a moot point, the really important thing is to keep drinking it just in case...

I say chaps!  I was about to return home not wanting to buy anything at the supermarket, as I am so tired.  I sat down for a few seconds at a local sandwich shop to take a respit from the heat, turned my iPod on, and I saw this thread...  Now I'm going to the supermarket and taking home a fine bottle of Bock beer to go with my dinner.  Thank you for reminding me of my duty to civilization!

Cheers,
JW