Quite a few interesting articles out there on how the desire for a regular source of beer may have been the spur that changed Homo Sapiens from a nomadic, hunter-gatherer to a civilized consumer. The articles all cite a Canadian named Brian Hayden, an archaeologist at the Simon Fraser University in Canada: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html?_r=0 http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2010/11/09/how-beer-created-civilization/ http://www.livescience.com/10221-beer-lubricated-rise-civilization-study-suggests.html this link includes an interesting documentary titled "How Beer Saved the World" http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/how-beer-saved-the-world/ As a guy with a B.A. in History this stuff really excites me.
If you like that, check out this guy. http://www.penn.museum/sites/biomoleculararchaeology/ He's the one who pairs up occasionally with DFH to re-create ancient beers.
Beer has long been an important part of human life, and I really enjoy learning the historical connections more and more. But srsly, that movie is pretty awful. It's on Netflix but I'd spare yourself the time and read up instead.
Yeah, it's a little too condensed and slanted to be factual. Some interesting points in it that warrant further investigation to dig up the real facts. Obviously, some are going to be difficult to prove since much of it was not recorded.
So, are we all ancestors of the original caveman who decided to eat/drink the foul smelling, rotting gruel left over after a rain storm?
From my gradeschool history knowlegde I would say that agriculture created civilization and then civilization created beer.
