Beer · History · Short entry

Jiahu: a Neolithic fermented drink

Residues in pottery from the Neolithic village of Jiahu, Henan, show a fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit in the seventh millennium BCE.

Location: Jiahu, Wuyang county, Henan, People's Republic of China

seventh millennium BCE

Chemical analysis of residues absorbed into pottery jars identified a mixed fermented drink of rice, honey and fruit (hawthorn and/or grape).

Why it mattered

Among the earliest chemical evidence for a fermented drink anywhere; a mixed beverage rather than a beer in the modern sense.

The evidence

Patrick McGovern and colleagues (2004) analysed residues absorbed into pottery jars from the early Neolithic village of Jiahu. The results point to a mixed fermented drink of rice, honey and fruit, hawthorn and/or grape, made in the seventh millennium BCE. The same study found later cereal-based drinks of the second millennium BCE preserved as liquids in sealed Shang and Western Zhou bronze vessels.

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