The Near East and East Asia

AbstractChapter 3 begins an in-depth geographical journey exploring the relationship between people and beer in Southwest Asia, currently considered the region where the world’s first brewing took place. Southwest Asia beer documents for the first time new types of technologies that may have been associated with distinct rituals well before the advent of grain domestication. Ancient beer research has now changed our perceptions of when, why, how, and where beer was first brewed. This chapter highlights the earliest beer discovered from Raqefet Cave, Israel, followed with later Southwest Asian sites containing the earliest monumental architecture associated with rituals and decorative stone bowls possibly used for beer production. The chapter discusses the site of Jiahu, where beer first appeared in China and was associated with a rich symbolic context. It next outlines the archaeological evidence as to whether beer may have been invented before bread and how beer led to the development of the Mesopotamian state society. The chapter concludes with the ritual use of beer among the contemporary Ainu of Japan.