JERUSALEM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli researchers have found evidence for the earliest production of alcohol from 13,000 years ago, as reported on Thursday by the University of Haifa.
The evidence was found in a cave in Mount Carmel in the northern part of the state near the city of Haifa.
The earliest evidence so far of alcohol were jars from the Neolithic village Jiahu in the Henan province of northern China which date to about 7,000 BC.
According to the research, conducted with Stanford University in the United States, alcohol, probably a type of beer, was created by the Natufian culture.
The Natufians lived about 11,000-15,500 years ago in the region, and Mount Carmel was one of the most important and crowded settlement systems.
They were among the first in the world to abandon nomadic life and move to permanent settlement, which included the construction of stone structures.
The Natufians buried their dead and padded the graves in a bed of flowers. Now it turns out that they also produced beer and consumed it, apparently at special ceremonies.
In the current research, evidence of several types of grain, stored in craters cut in stone, was found in the area, including wheat, barley, oats, legumes and linen.
In microscopic examination, tiny remains of starch grains were discovered in the craters, which underwent changes that are compatible to changes in starch in fermentation. The craters were used to store grains before and after fermentation.
It was also found that another crater was used, besides storage, as a receptacle in which grains could be crushed, a necessary stage in fermentation.
The food was probably stored in a kind of baskets that made it easier to remove and insert it into the craters, according to remnants of fibers that were found at the bottom of the craters.
The fibers were rotated and processed in a way that suited the pattern of woven baskets.
According to the researchers, the formation of the craters in the stone, and then the necessary actions to produce alcohol required great effort and professionalism, indicating the great ceremonial importance that the Natufian culture gave to the production of alcohol.
Since they were the first to invest considerable effort in their ceremonies and customs of burial, it is possible that the production and consumption of alcohol were also part of the burial ceremonies of the Natufian culture.
