Alcoholic beverages played an essential role in rituals in ancient societies. Here we report the first evidence for beer drinking in the context of burial ritual in early Holocene southern China. Recent archaeological investigations at Qiaotou (9,000–8,700 cal. BP) have revealed a platform mound containing human burials and high concentrations of painted pottery, encircled by a human-made ditch. By applying microfossil (starch, phytolith, and fungi) residue analysis on the pottery vessels, we found that some of the pots held beer made of rice (Oryza sp.), Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and USOs. We also discovered the earliest evidence for using mold saccharification-fermentation starter in beer making, predating written records by 8,000 years. The beer at Qiaotou was likely served in rituals to commemorate the burial of the dead. Ritualized drinking probably played an integrative role in maintaining social relationships, paving the way for the rise of complex farming societies four millennia later.
Microfossil analyses of three early Neolithic pottery vessels from Xiaohuangshan, a middle Shangshan culture site in Zhejiang (ca. 9000–8500 cal. BP), revealed the earliest evidence of red rice beer brewing in China. This fermentation method involved the preparation of qu starter with Monascus mold, rice, and probably herbs; the brewing ingredients may have included mainly rice, together with Job’s tears, acorn, and lily bulb; and globular jars were used as fermenters. The dregs of the red beer may have been used for cooking with solid foods and served with them on plates at feasts. The globular jar analyzed was a part of the grave goods assemblage, suggesting that alcoholic beverages were sacrificial offerings to the dead ancestors. This mortuary practice, which involved rice-based fermented beverages, emerged in the early stage of rice cultivation under the wet-warm climatic conditions during the early Holocene, shedding new light on the driving forces of the origin and dispersal of rice domestication in China.
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