On Tue, 21 Oct 1997 Dean Esmay <[log in to unmask]> quoted Loren Cordain:

> The first documented production of
> beer is known from a beer recipe written in Sumerian on clay tablets
> from the 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia (1).
>
> 1.      Katz SH, Voigt MM.  Bread and beer: the early use of cereals in
> the human diet.  Expedition 1987;28:23-34.

Whilst this is the earliest documentary record there is evidence to
suggest brewing had been around for some time.  Alan Millard argues [1]
that leavened bread was being produced in bevelled rimmed bowls from early
in the 4th millenium BC in the Uruk culture.  Further he argues that given
the mastery of yeast and the fact that early beer was made with a mash
similar to part risen bread, it is likely that they made beer as well.
This is supported by comparison of certain drinking vessels with the
symbol for beer in Sumerian.

Loren's arguments for the need for containers and a warm climate still
apply.

[1] Millard, AR (1988) "The bevelled rimmed bowls: their purpose and
significance" Iraq 50 49-57

Andrew


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 Dr. Andrew Millard                              [log in to unmask]
 Department of Archaeology, University of Durham,   Tel: +44 191 374 4757
 South Road, Durham. DH1 3LE. United Kingdom.       Fax: +44 191 374 3619
                      http://www.dur.ac.uk/~drk0arm/
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