THE DISCOVERYin northern Israel of beer production
some 13,000 years ago falls into the same timescale as
the oldest known traces of bread yet found—between
14,600 and 11,600 years ago. The traces of flatbread,
found in Jordan in 2018 and made from wild cereals,
were the product of the same Natufian culture that
brewed the Raqefet beer. Before the find, the earliest
evidence of breadmaking had been dated to about
9,000 years ago in Turkey. Taken together, these finds
are leading scholars to consider that crude methods of
bread- and beermaking brought such nutritional and
social enhancements to communities that they spurred
efforts toward ever more refined cultivation of plants
and farming.NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 5storage of locally gathered
food, including wheat, barley,
oat, and legumes. The team
believes that the staples were
packed inside bags made of
flax, stored in the mortars, and
covered with a stone slab on
top like a lid.
The third mortar in the
study—a different kind of hol-
low that was carved directlyout of the bedrock—revealed
the site’s boozy secret. As
well as being used for cook-
ing, analysis of the recessed
area showed wear patterns and
residues proving it had been
used to make barley or wheat
beer. Some theorize that other
plants were probably added to
the mixture so as to provide
some extra flavor.After considering the evi-
dence, the team believes the
resulting beverage was most
likely consumed during ritual
feasts and celebrations among
the Natufians. Advances in
food technology not only pro-
vided better sustenance but
also enriched the ritualis-
tic and social lives of these
ancient communities.including numerous mortars
(stone recipients), as well as
divots hollowed out from
the rocks that archaeologists
call “cupmarks.”
Stone Age Storage
The study focused on three of
the stone mortars at the site.
Analysis confirmed that two
of them had been used for
ELSEVIER/JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE: REPORTSTHE NATUFIANS who used the cave made receptacles from
material they found there: 1 a boulder mortar with a slab for
a lid as food storage, and 2 a bedrock mortar, hollowed out
of the floor, and used for cooking food and brewing beer.BEER AND BREAD
GETTY IMAGESANCIENT STARCH (ABOVE LEFT) FOUND AT RAQEFET CAVE IS COMPARED
WITH MODERN STARCH (ABOVE RIGHT) AS PART OF THE STUDY OF BREWING
BEER AT THE SITE. BELOW, A MODERN BARLEY FIELD PHOTO: LI LIU12HOLLOWS DOT THE FLOOR OF
RAQEFET CAVE. SOME WERE USED
FOR BREWING AND COOKING BY THE
NATUFIAN PEOPLE.
THE RAQEFET CAVE NATUFIAN PROJECT