Alcohol in PreHistory: Under the Influence• production and consumption of alcohol part of human condition for millennia• role of alcohol in ancient societies has been the subject of significant anthropological researchFermentation: in food processing is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions!Neolithic Fermented Foods• Early New Foods◦Beer!◦Wine◦Mead◦Leavened bread◦Cheeses!◦Areas of Sumeria (Fertile Crescent: Turkey, Iran, Iraq)!Fermentation in the Wild• Alcohol content can reach > 6% "on the vine" (that is 6% of the weight of the fruit)!• Animals in the wild can have BAC (blood alcohol content) of >0.25%◦! ! Legal limit 0.08%• Alcohol ingestion has been part of the human condition since before we were humans and ingestion◦! ! is consistent w/ an ancient and adaptive expression... (Dudley 2002)The Basic Brewing Process: Flavor Manipulation!! ! Grains used in Prehistory:!!!!! ! ! !-malted and parched barley!!!! ! ! !-wheat!!!! !!!!!-triticale!!!!! ! ! !-spelt!!!! ! ! !-millet!!!! ! ! !-maize!!!! ! ! !-rice!!!! ! ! !-probably many others!!!! ! ! !-Common Grains used today: Malted Barley, Wheat, Corn, Rice, RyeBut First, the Basic Brewing Process1 Grains cracked (we need a starch source)2 The Mash!1 water added2 starch conversion to sugar3 The Ferment!1 Yeast eats sugar2 alcohol produced (along w/ fermentation by- products which introduce flavor nuances!)!4 Conditioning or Ripening!What was the first fermented beverage?• Mead: it ferments naturally from wild yeast strains!• Wine: sugar content means it ferments on the vine• Beer: it is the first we read about!Earliest Evidence of Controlled Fermentation!• At Jiahu in the Henan province in China, McGovern has identified an alcoholic beverage (8,500 BP)• Brewed with rice (not yet domesticated), honey, hackberries and chrysanthemum flowers• In association with very early pottery, the onset of rice domestication in northern China, the earliest musical instruments and possible pictographic writingOrigins of Fermentation!• Controlled Beer Fermentation!◦Basic Theory 1 of Early Beer Process■raw or parched grains mixed with water (Gruel)■molds, yeasts, and bacteria ferment■parching or malting created sugars as food source■molds can cause sugars to be accessible as food for yeast■low levels of alcohol at beginning!◦Basic Theory 2 of Early Beer Process■baked bread■when wet (accidental at first??) sugars solubilize and microbes can fermentIssue: Fermentation is hard to trace-Onset of brewing before written texts and pottery-Alcohol production required the use of organic materials which, by their very nature, have been eroded from the archaeological record!Early Evidence of Beer!• from the Near East a 6000 year old stamp seal• from Ur, a long gold plated reed straw that still had beer residue (calcium oxalate) attached to it• among the earliest known written texts are the Sumerian accounts from Mesopotamia dating to the 3rd millennium BC• texts detail the brewing process utilizing barely, includes many beer recipes• Outlines the religious relationship of beer to the Goddess NinkasiEarly Alcohol• factoids◦drunkenness acknowledge in early texts◦epic of Gilgamesh (4,000 BP)◦Shang dynasty China (3125 BP)■announcement about drunkenness!■“Men will not do without spirits.! To prohibit them and secure total abstinence from them is beyond the power of even sages.! Here therefore, we have warnings about the abuse of them.”Role of Fermentation!• Nutrition• Preservation• Flavor• Fun ???Near East: Quick History of Fermentation!4000 BC! Sumerians (Beer)2500 BC Egyptians (Beer)2000 BC! Greeks (Wine)1750 BC! Babylonians! (Beer)– “Code of Hammurabi”539 BC! Persians (Muslim Arabs)(NO Alcohol) defeat ! ! ! Babylonians !336 BC! Greeks and Romans return (Wine)400 AD! Goths control north (Beer)Nutritional Benefits of Alcohol!• antibiotics!◦a 2010 study revealed that Nubian and Egyptian human remains contain high levels of tetracycline◦the most likely candidate for antibiotic production is bacterial fermentation!Waterborne Diseases!• Cholera!• Typhus• Dysentery• Plague!• there are MANY health problems that result from the overconsumption of alcohol◦Moderate Consumption: is consistently defined in medical literature as 1-3 drinks equivalents per dayMayflower Pilgrims, 1620!• William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony wrote: "We could not take time for further search or consideration our victuals being much spent, especially our beer"• Water spoilage• Essential for social, cultural, and physical health of the colony!• Brewery one of first buildings constructed• in 1630 the Arabella brought 3 times as much beer per person!Nutritional Benefits of Alcohol• cardiovascular health• vitamins and minerals• antibiotics created with bacterial fermentation!• promotes healthy cellular metabolism and protein synthesis• promotes antioxidant formation• helps maintain bone mineral density• helps decrease effects of Alzheimer's disease!• cardiovascular health!◦over one hundred studies◦hundreds of thousands of participants◦across 25 countries◦over 60 years!◦30-60% lower risk of CHD◦these studies have consistently demonstrated a U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease!Economics!• Cuneiform◦earliest form of writing◦based on accounting for grains used in brewing!◦"Elba" beer from Elba in Mesopotamia was traded to distant lands!• Barter and Trade◦code of Hammurabi 4100 BP◦set regulations on tavern owners!Beer in Egypt!• Everyday commodity◦virtually every household, rich or poor, brewed beer at home◦at least 38 different recipes existed in Egypt!◦"The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer.”• Commercial brewing, sometimes from bread• beer was brewed for religious events• tomb makers in the Valley of Kings were paid in beer and grain!Beer in the New World• Chicha!◦Peru-3,000 BP (later than Inca)!◦Corn based (no enzymes for starch conversion)!◦feasts◦industry◦archaeologists suggest 6,000 BP date for beer made with early maize stalks-therefore domesticationWhat We Do Know!• beer making offered prehistoric people a nutritional benefit compared to the use of non-processed grains• alcohol provided protection from unsafe drinking