Raqefet Cave Preserves the Earliest Known Evidence of Cereal Beer Brewing

Around 11,000 BCE, members of the Natufian culture used stone mortars at Raqefet Cave on Mount Carmel, in present-day Israel, to process cereals and produce a fermented beverage. The Natufians were semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers living before the establishment of agriculture in the region. Microscopic analysis of residues preserved in three mortars revealed starch granules and phytoliths from wheat, barley, and other plants, together with patterns of damage consistent with deliberate malting and brewing. A research team led by archaeologist Li Liu reconstructed a three-stage process. Wild cereals were first germinated to produce malt, after which the malted grain was crushed, mixed with water, and heated in the stone mortars. The resulting mixture was then left to ferment, probably through naturally occurring yeast. Experimental brewing showed that these steps produced changes in starch granules closely resembling those found in the archaeological residues. The resulting drink was probably low in alcohol and more like a thin porridge or gruel than modern filtered beer. The mortars were located within a Natufian burial complex containing numerous human graves. The researchers therefore interpreted brewing as part of ritual feasts associated with honoring the dead, strengthening social bonds, and maintaining communal memory. Although the evidence cannot identify the beverage’s precise recipe or flavor, it currently represents the earliest known archaeological evidence of deliberate cereal-based beer production and shows that brewing developed before domesticated-cereal agriculture became established.