Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences—Early rice domestication expanded alongside alcohol fermentation in Neolithic China, according to a study. Archaeological evidence has linked the earliest stages of rice (Oryza sp.) cultivation to the Shangshan culture in China’s lower Yangzi River region. The social processes that drove early rice domestication have not been well-studied. To explore early uses of domestic rice, Li Liu, Jianping Zhang, and colleagues analyzed microfossil remains, including phytoliths, starch granules, and fungi, associated with 12 pottery sherds excavated from the earliest deposits at a Shangshan site dated to around 10,000–9,000 years ago. The authors analyzed residues from the interior surfaces of the sherds and plant material incorporated into the clay itself. The analysis suggested that early domesticated rice was used both as a staple crop and for brewing fermented beverages using a traditional qu starter containing Monascus mold and yeast as fermentation agents. The authors note that the warm, humid climate of the early Holocene Epoch would have promoted fungal growth. Job’s tears grains, Panicoideae and Triticeae grasses, acorns, and lilies supplemented rice as fermentation ingredients. The authors report that the documented brewing method represents the earliest known fermentation technique in East Asia. According to the authors, alcoholic rice beverages likely served ritual functions and may have played a key role in the expansion of rice cultivation in Neolithic China.
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Shangshan pottery vessels and artistic representation of red beer served with a jar and cup. Leping Jiang, Jianping Zhang
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Article Source: PNAS news release.
*“Identification of 10,000-year-old rice beer at Shangshan in the Lower Yangzi River valley of China,” by Li Liu et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 9-Dec-2024. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2412274121
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