http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/research_news/earth/202412/t20241210_894219.shtml
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2412274121
A collaborative study has uncovered evidence of rice beer dating back approximately 10,000 years at the Shangshan site in Zhejiang Province, China, providing new insights into the origins of alcoholic beverage brewing in East Asia.
The study was jointly conducted by researchers from Stanford University, the Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (ICRA) in China.
Uncovering Early Alcoholic Beverage Brewing
The research team analyzed twelve pottery sherds from the early phase of the Shangshan site in Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province (10,000–9000 BP). Phytolith analysis revealed a significant presence of domesticated rice phytoliths in the residues and pottery clay. Evidence also showed that rice husks and leaves were used in pottery production, further demonstrating the integral role of rice in Shangshan culture. The team also found a variety of starch granules in the pottery residues, including rice, Job’s tears, barnyard grass, Triticeae, acorns, and lilies. Many of the starch granules exhibited signs of enzymatic degradation and gelatinization, which are characteristic of fermentation processes.
In addition, the study uncovered abundant fungal elements, including Monascus molds and yeast cells, some of which displayed developmental stages typical of fermentation. These fungi are closely associated with qu starters used in traditional brewing methods, such as those used in producing hongqujiu (red yeast rice wine) in China. The research team analyzed the distribution of Monascus and yeast remains across different pottery vessel types, observing higher concentrations in globular jars compared to a cooking pot and a processing basin. This distribution suggests that vessel types were closely linked to specific functions, with globular jars purposely produced for alcohol fermentation.
The findings suggest that the Shangshan people employed broad-spectrum subsistence strategies during the early phases of rice domestication and used pottery vessels, particularly globular jars, to brew qu-based rice alcoholic beverages.
Linking Technology, Agriculture, and Climate
The emergence of this brewing technology in the early Shangshan culture was closely linked to rice domestication and the warm, humid climate of the early Holocene. These alcoholic beverages likely played a pivotal role in ceremonial feasting, highlighting their ritual importance as a potential driving force behind the intensified utilization and widespread cultivation of rice in Neolithic China.
The evidence of rice alcohol fermentation at Shangshan represents the earliest known occurrence of this technology in East Asia, offering new insights into the complex interplay between rice domestication, alcoholic beverage production, and social formation during the early Holocene in China.
