10,000-Year-Old Pottery Fragments from the Shangshan Culture Along the Yangtze River Reveal Evidence of an Ancient Alcoholic Beverage.
A multinational research team led by Professor Leping Jiang from the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (China) has discovered an ancient rice-based alcoholic beverage.
According to Sci-News, they analyzed artifacts from the early period of the Shangshan culture, which thrived in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China.
Shangshan culture artifacts containing evidence of an ancient alcoholic beverage – (Photo: STANFORD UNIVERSITY).
The artifacts, dated between 9,000 to 10,000 years old from the Shangshan people, revealed traces of phytoliths (tiny minerals found in plant tissues), starch grains, and yeast.
Among these, the starch grains were derived from rice, chestnuts, foxtail millet, a type of wheat, acorns, and lilies.
Many of the starch grains—most notably rice starch—show signs of degradation by enzymes and gelatinization, characteristics indicative of fermentation processes.
Researchers also found various fungal components, including Monascus mold and yeast cells, some of which exhibited developmental stages typical of fermentation.
These fungi are closely related to those used in traditional brewing methods in China, such as those employed to produce Hongqujiu, or red yeast rice wine.
Therefore, in their publication in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers concluded that this is evidence of the production of an alcoholic beverage.
“These fragments are associated with various types of vessels, including those used for fermentation, serving, storage, cooking, and processing,” Professor Jiang added.
The ancient Shangshan culture is closely linked to the domestication of rice during a warm, humid climate period in the region.
These findings suggest that the inhabitants utilized their available resources to create alcohol. The pottery used in the production process also contained rice husks, highlighting the significant role of rice in early East Asian civilizations.
Professor Li Liu from Stanford University (USA), a co-author, explained: “Domesticated rice provides a stable resource for fermentation processes, while favorable climatic conditions support the development of technology, based on the growth of filamentous fungi.”
These alcoholic beverages may have played a vital role in ceremonial feasts during the Neolithic era along the Yangtze River.
The evidence of rice fermentation by the Shangshan people also indicates that this technology emerged earliest in East Asia.
Previously, the earliest globally recognized evidence of alcohol was found in Jiahu, a Neolithic village in the Yellow River valley, dating back to around 7000-6600 BCE, or approximately 8,600-9,000 years ago.
