Chinese Archaeologists Uncover 3.7 Liters of 2,200-Year-Old Cereal Alcohol in Qin Tomb
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 27
Chinese Archaeologists Uncover 3.7 Liters of 2,200-Year-Old Cereal Alcohol in Qin Tomb
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 27
Summary
3.74 liters of preserved liquid were found sealed inside a bronze vessel in a Qin tomb at the Shanjiabao cemetery in Ningxia, making it an unusually large intact sample from the Warring States period.
Organic chemistry, metabolomics, starch-grain and yeast analyses identified the liquid as a fermented cereal drink brewed mainly from broomcorn millet, with some wheat and/or barley rather than a distilled spirit.
Ruru Chen of Northwest University said the clear blue-green liquid had no noticeable odor and only slight sediment, an exceptional state of preservation for a beverage buried more than 2,200 years.
Researchers suspect the dry local environment, the bronze container, its sealing method and burial conditions helped preserve the drink, and they plan further study to explain its survival and ancient brewing methods.
Could surviving yeast cells in this 2,200-year-old blue-green liquid be revived to brew the exact beer drank by ancient Qin soldiers?
What chemical mysteries inside the sealed bronze vessel caused this ancient millet beer to transform into a clear, light blue-green liquid over millennia?
How can modern machine learning accurately identify the complex organic compounds of a pre-imperial beverage that hasn't been brewed in centuries?