This story supports the hypothesis that humans developed agriculture, and by extension civilization, to facilitate making sacred mind-altering intoxicants and hallucinogens. The idea that plant cultivation began as a sacred act is intriguing.
WASHINGTON -- The Chinese were consuming fermented beverages, possibly wine, as long as 9,000 years ago, scientists say.
Early evidence of beer and wine had been traced to the ancient Middle East. But the new discovery indicates that the Chinese may have been making their drinks even earlier.
''Fermented beverages are central to a lot of our religions, social relations, medicine, in many cultures around the world," said Patrick E. McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
These drinks ''have played key roles in the development of human culture and technology, contributing to the advance and intensification of agriculture, horticulture, and food-processing technologies," he reported.
