Barley Beer Is Produced at Godin Tepe

Around 3400 BCE, people at Godin Tepe in the central Zagros Mountains of present-day Iran stored barley beer in a large ceramic jar. The vessel, dated to the Late Uruk occupation of approximately 3500–3100 BCE, contained a yellowish residue in grooves cut into its interior. Chemical analysis identified the residue as calcium oxalate, commonly known as beerstone, which forms during the production and storage of barley beer. Charred barley grains were also recovered from the same storeroom, strengthening the interpretation of the vessel as a beer container. When researchers published their findings in 1992, the Godin Tepe jar provided some of the earliest chemically identified evidence for barley beer. The discovery also demonstrated how residue analysis could supplement written and pictorial evidence when reconstructing ancient brewing practices.