European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 enjoy their Beer in Quantity. According to a recent article in an anthropology archaeology journal so did our ancestors. In tact it was the discovery did Beer prime the pump by William  new York times by. 10,000 years or so ago did people first Settle Dawn and go 1o All the trouble sowing cultivating and reaping crops the question has Fong tantalized anthropologists and Archeo Legista because once its answer is Clear they will know what sparked the Long transformation of humans from wandering Hunters into literate City dwellers. Beer did it argues an anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The event that primed the  according to his new hypothesis was the accidental discovery by prehistoric humans that wild wheat and Barley soaked in water to make Gruel if Lett out in the open air did not spoil. Instead natural yeast in the air converted it to a dark bubbling brew that made whoever drank it feel Good. On top of that. The brew made people robust at the time it was second Only to animal problem As a nutritional source. This combination of mood altering and nutritional proper lies would have been incentive enough to cause neolithic Hunter gatherers in the near East to begin cultivating the grains Solomon h. Katz contends in an article published in expedition the journal of the museum of archaeology anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. My  Katz said in an interview is that the initial discovery of a stable Way to produce alcohol provided enormous motivation or continuing to go out and collect these seeds and try to gel them to do  the argument is buttressed Kalz wrote in his article by the tact that almost invariably individuals and societies appear to invest enormous amounts of Ellort and even risk in the Pursuit of mind altering foods and beverages Strong motivation would have been required to break away from the Hunting gathering Way Otho. According to one View among archaeologists because contrary to myth Hunting and gathering provided a higher and More reliable Standard of living with less work than the onerous and often Chancy Pursuit of agriculture. Over the last two decades specialists on the neolithic world have generally favored environmental and ecological explanations for the birth of agriculture. For is Tance it has been commonly held that population increases forced neolithic Peoples to search for ways to expand the Tood Supply. Some scholars Are beginning to doubt this explanation Are giving More weight to cultural factors. Katz s specially is the study of the development of cuisine broadly defined As one such cultural Factor. While Katz s Beer hypothesis is Likely to attract interest scepticism is already being expressed. I would say it s an ingredient in the mix of causal factors said Marvin Harris an anthropologist at the University of Florida who is a theorist on cultural evolution but i would t want to put a kind of prime mover status on it. What might have happened said Harris is that after the game animals of the tale pleistocene disappeared and deprived humans of their major source of Lood people began combing the environment for anything that would sustain tile so what do you do with several tons of wild seeds you be just harvested he asked. You Settle Down in a Village and protect it. Meanwhile. The animals Are coming closer to the stands of Grain and then there s a gradual transition Over to domestication of bold plants and animals. There is probably a symbiotic relationship Between domes Licarion of the two be said. There Are plenty of plausible alternatives he said. The process probably had ils alcoholic aspect he said but the whole thing is a  Katz argues that Grain derived afro Fiolas the critical element. In Many cultures he says. The use of alcohol has been made so Central to social and religious practice that any disruption of its Supply would be seen As a serious problem. In the near East where agriculture and Village life Lisl appeared the need to solve this problem could Welt have accounted for the transition from Hunting and gathering he said. Saturday april 18, 1987 the discovery of brewing could have happened quite easily according to the anthropologist. First he says wheat and Barley Wero soaked in water to make Gruel. Some of the grains accidentally sprouted and when As led were found to be Sweet. For this reason they were saved and eventually natural yeast in lha air mixed with the watery Gruel to produce a solution with perhaps 3 to 5 percent alcohol. The archaeological record so far provides no direct evidence that Beer making prompted the cultivation of Grain Kalz said. But he wrote in his article the Beer hypothesis is compatible with one aspect of the record that has puzzled archaeologists. At Early neolithic Village Siles where Slone tools used for cultivation were found very Tew carbonized Grain seeds were in evidence. Had they been More plentiful it would have indicated that Grain was used in the baking of bread As is commonly believed. Since Beer making does not require exposing grains to tire he Wriles i could be an everyday activity and yet produce not a single carbonized seed " moreover he said narrow locked storage vessels of the kind needed to promote carbonation have been found dating Back to the beginnings of neolithic limes. This vessel is so common through the world that it s incredible he said. Every Lime you have one of these narrow necks you know you be got something that s keeping the air and the oxygen outside and the Carbon dioxide  the presence of Carbon dioxide helped keep the brew acidic in turn protecting it from the development of toxic qualities thai can otherwise occur. By the time the neolithic Village culture of the near East had evolved into the City Stales of Sumeria some 5,000 years ago he said Beer drinking had been raised to a High status. The world s oldest recipe Wentlen on sumeran tablets is for Beer. Another Tablet contains a hymn to he Beer goddess. Nin Kasi. Long straws Lor drinking Beer aristocrats Olur used Golden ones were apparently common in the Early miso polatian City so alas in general Katz writes in expedition we car say that Beer was an import land food Ihil was integrated into the mythology religion and Economy of the  thesta Fis and stripes Page 17