28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Beer remains that are 9,000 years old have been discovered in China’s unique Hu pots

Archaeologists in southeast China have discovered evidence of beer consumption in ceramic vessels at the burial site called Qiaotou.

The researchers discovered ancient crud—starches, fossilized plant waste, and fungal remains—in those pots, indicating that some of those containers carried alcohol. The team’s findings were published in PLOS One last month.

The researchers write in their study that alcoholic drinks played a significant part in ancient societies’ rituals, and they discovered the earliest evidence of beer consumption in the context of burial rites in southern China during the early Holocene epoch.

Several long-necked hu pots found in excavations at the site contained starches, fossilized plant residue, mold, and yeast remnants, indicating that they originally carried a fermented alcoholic beverage. In later periods, these Hu pots were used to drink alcoholic beverages.

Co-author Jiajing Wang, assistant professor of anthropology at Dartmouth, said in a statement, “Through an analysis of pots from Qiaotou, our results revealed that the pottery residue vessels were used to hold beer, in its most general sense—a fermented beverage made of rice ( Oryza sp.), a grain called Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and unidentified tubers. This ancient beer though would not have been like the IPA that we have today. Instead, it was likely a slightly fermented and sweet beverage, which was probably cloudy in color” he said.

Long-necked Hu vessel
Long-necked Hu vessel. Photo: Leping Jiang.

The results also revealed that phytoliths from rice husks and other plants were found in the pots. They might have been used as a fermentation agent in the beer.

Given their location, the ancient people of Qiaotou utilizing rice in their beer is not unexpected; that area of southern China remains a major rice grower. Rice was still in its early days of domestication when the site at Qiaotou was inhabited.

Although the Yangtze River Valley in southern China is now recognized as the country’s rice heartland, rice domestication developed gradually between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, thus rice was still in its early stages of domestication 9,000 years ago.

Given the laborious nature of rice harvesting and processing, the beer at Qiaotou was most likely a ritually significant drink/beverage, according to the researchers.

Some of the ancient pottery found in the mound at Qiaotou.Photo: Wang et al., PLOS One 2021
Some of the ancient pottery found in the mound at Qiaotou.Photo: Wang et al., PLOS One 2021

“We don’t know how people made the mold 9,000 years ago, as fermentation can happen naturally,” Wang says in the statement. “If people had some leftover rice and the grains became moldy, they may have noticed that the grains became sweeter and alcoholic with age. While people may not have known the biochemistry associated with grains that became moldy, they probably observed the fermentation process and leveraged it through trial and error.”

The beer at Qiaotou isn’t the earliest beer ever discovered—evidence of beer has been discovered at sites in Israel and Turkey dating back over 10,000 years—Earlier examples in the Mediterranean region, date to 13,000 years ago but its circumstances illustrate the importance of such alcoholic beverages in ancient cultural events.

The hu pots themselves, as well as other containers, were another unique item at the site. According to the study, they are among the world’s oldest known instances of painted ceramics. Some have abstract patterns on them. According to the experts, no additional pottery of the same type has been discovered at other locations during the same period.

Cover Photo: Some of the vessels contained residue from an alcoholic brew. (Jiajing Wang)

Related Articles

Evidence of the oldest hunter-gatherer basketry in southern Europe discovered in Spanish Cave

29 September 2023

29 September 2023

A team of scientists has discovered and analyzed the first direct evidence of basketry among hunter-gatherer societies and early farmers...

Crowned figure holding a 13th-century falcon found in Oslo

17 December 2021

17 December 2021

Archaeologist Ann-Ingeborg Floa Grindhaug discovered a three-inch-long figure carved from bone or antler amid the ruins of a fortified royal...

A long-lost branch of the Nile helped in building Egypt’s pyramids – Scientists Say

1 September 2022

1 September 2022

The Giza Pyramids are one of the world’s most iconic cultural landscapes, and they have fascinated humans for thousands of...

Archaeologists Find Ornate Roman Domūs in Nimes

25 February 2021

25 February 2021

Archaeologists conducting archaeological excavations in the French city of Nimes have discovered the remains of two high-status Roman domus (houses)....

In the excavations at Tepecik Mound in Aydın, Türkiye, a palace-like structure dating back to the 13th century BCE was discovered

13 August 2023

13 August 2023

Excavations at Tepecik Mound in the Çine district of Aydın province, located in the western part of Turkey, revealed a...

History, geography, and evolution are rewrites thanks to an incredible dinosaur trove discovered in Italy

2 December 2021

2 December 2021

A dinosaur trove in Italy rewrites the history, geography, and evolution of the ancient Mediterranean area. Italy is not exactly...

Archaeologists discover three extraordinary 1,800-year-old residential-style tombs featuring rooms and windows, Filled with Han Dynasty Treasures

19 May 2024

19 May 2024

Archaeologists discovered three remarkable 1,800-year-old, residential-style tombs featuring rooms and windows, where a wealthy family was laid to rest alongside...

1800-year-old statue head found in Ancient Smyrna Theater in western Turkey

30 July 2022

30 July 2022

A statue head dated to the 2nd century AD was unearthed during the excavations at the Ancient Smyrna Theater, located...

Spanish Water Worker discovered 2,500-Year-Old two Gold Necklaces

14 September 2023

14 September 2023

A worker at a local water company in Spain discovered two gold necklaces thought to date back 2,500 years. Sergio...

Italian Research Team May Have Found Plato’s Burial Site in Athens

23 April 2024

23 April 2024

Graziano Ranocchia, a papyrologist at the University of Pisa, said he found Plato’s exact burial place based on papyri findings...

Archaeologists find an Anglo-Saxon church at Stoke Mandeville excavation site

13 September 2021

13 September 2021

Archaeologists working on the HS2 project found the remains of an Anglo-Saxon church during their excavations at the former St...

According to researchers, the bones discovered underneath St. Peter’s Basilica may not be his

5 June 2021

5 June 2021

Three Italian researchers have voiced doubts about whether St. Peter’s bones are buried underneath the Rome basilica that bears his...

Stone reliefs describing the Persian-Greek wars were found in the ancient city of Daskyleion in northwestern Turkey

16 August 2021

16 August 2021

A relief depicting a fifth-century BC battle between the Greeks and Persians was discovered in the ancient city of Dascylium...

Archaeologists Uncover Monumental Roman Building Near Waal River in Nijmegen, Netherlands

4 June 2025

4 June 2025

During a routine excavation ahead of a major urban development in the Waalfront district of Nijmegen, municipal archaeologists have uncovered...

Bone workshop and oil lamp shop unearthed in Aizanoi ancient city in western Turkey

13 November 2021

13 November 2021

Archaeologists have unearthed a bone workshop and an oil lamp shop in an Aizanoi ancient city in the Çavdarhisar district...