“The domestication of plants driven by the desire to have greater quantities of alcoholic beverages,” claims archeologist Patrick McGovern.

Rice was domesticated in 8,000 BC, but the people of Jiahu made the transition to farming later, around the time we know that they drank rice wine. Residue on pottery at an archeological site in Jiahu, China, proves that humanity has drunk rice wine since at least 7,000 BC. Researchers now believe the desire for a stable supply of alcohol could have motivated the beginnings of agriculture and non-nomadic civilization. A Chilean alcoholic drink made from wild potatoes may date to 13,000 BC. Palm wine, still popular in parts of Africa and Asia today, may have originated in 16,000 BC. Robert Dudley, who created the “drunken monkey” hypothesis, believes that modern alcohol abuse “arises from a mismatch between prehistoric and contemporary environments.”Īt first, humans obtained alcohol from wild plants. Before we could properly purify water or prepare food, the risk of ingesting hazardous microbes was so great that the antiseptic qualities of alcohol made it safer to consume than non-alcoholic alternatives - despite alcohol’s own risks.Įven our primate ancestors may have consumed ethanol in decomposing fruit. On the other hand, research suggests that alcohol may have helped create civilization itself, and options have only gotten better with offerings such as premium single barrel bourbon.Īlcohol consumption could have given early homo sapiens a survival edge. Alcohol causes liver disease, many cancers, and other devastating health and social issues. True to its toxic origins, alcohol kills 3.3 million people each year, bringing about 5.9% of all deaths and 25% of deaths among people aged 20 to 39. Nature created both to kill creatures much smaller than us - plants evolved caffeine to poison insect predators, and yeasts produce ethanol to destroy competing microbes. No two drugs have defined human civilization the way alcohol and caffeine have. The cavemen were drunk and revolutionaries were caffeinated. Making Irish coffee / Photo by Frettie, Wikimedia Commons

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