From: jpisc98357@...
Message: 15502
Date: 2002-09-16
Two recent stories in the popular press may be of interest:
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Stone age man invented beer before making bread, says expert
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Experts says Stone Age man invented beer before he made bread.
Archaeologists have found that man first discovered alcohol in 9000 BC, more
than 5,000 years earlier than previously thought.
According to The Sun they reckon pottery was invented because man needed a
mug to hold his beer.
Until now researchers have assumed the first human settlements, which
appeared in the Middle East, were built around farming and growing corn for
food.
But archaeologist Merryn Dinely, of Manchester University, told the paper
that corn was turned into malt, the main ingredient for making beer.
Dr Dinely found that almost all ancient villages had homes with smooth,
carefully-made floors which appear to have been used for malting.
There was also evidence that ovens and grinding stones found at ancient sites
formed the foundations of a brewery. Heat-proof baskets lined with bitumen
were used for fermenting and storing beer.
Dr Dinely told a conference at Leicester University: "The most likely
scenario seems to be that humans discovered how to turn grain into malt,
which is sweet and nutritious.
"Then by accident they found out that when malt is mixed with water it turns
into alcohol."
Dr Dinely said drawings showed women did the brewing while men collected the
raw materials.
[http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_670546.html]