Editing Beer (section)

=== Prehistory ===

[[File:Stèle Mercenaire syrien 18ème dynastie Neues Museum image éclaircie et perspective corrigée.jpg|thumb|Ancient Egyptian painting, [[18th dynasty]], reign of [[Akhenaten]], {{Circa|1300 BC}}, showing Syrian mercenary drinking beer through a straw. [[Egyptian Museum of Berlin]]]]

Beer is one of the world's oldest prepared alcoholic drinks.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ben |last=McFarland |year=2009 |title=World's Best Beers: One thousand craft brews from cask to glass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHh-4M_QxEsC&pg=PA10 |publisher=[[Sterling Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4027-6694-7 |page=10}}</ref> The earliest archaeological evidence of fermentation consists of 13,000 year-old residues of a beer with the consistency of gruel, used by the semi-nomadic [[Natufian]]s for ritual feasting, at the [[Raqefet Cave]] in the [[Carmel Mountains]] near [[Haifa]] in northern Israel.<ref name="BBC 2018 oldest brewery">{{cite news |title='World's oldest brewery' found in cave in Israel, say researchers |date=15 September 2018 |website=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-45534133 |access-date=15 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=13,000&nbsp;year-old brewery discovered in Israel – the oldest in the world |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/13000-year-old-brewery-discovered-in-israel-the-oldest-in-the-world/ |date=2018-09-12 |last1=Borschel-Dan |first1=Amanda |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=16 September 2018}}</ref> There is evidence that beer was produced at [[Göbekli Tepe]] during the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] (around 8500&nbsp;BC to 5500&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dietrich |first1=Oliver |last2=Heun |first2=Manfred |last3=Notroff |first3=Jens |last4=Schmidt |first4=Klaus |last5=Zarnkow |first5=Martin |date=September 2012 |title=The role of cult and feasting in the emergence of Neolithic communities. New evidence from Göbekli Tepe, south-eastern Turkey |journal=Antiquity |volume=86 |issue=333 |pages=674–695 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00047840 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The earliest clear chemical evidence of beer produced from [[barley]] dates to about 3500–3100&nbsp;BC, from the site of [[Godin Tepe]] in the [[Zagros Mountains]] of western Iran.<ref name=McGovern-2009>{{cite book |last=McGovern |first=Patrick |year=2009 |title=Uncorking the Past |isbn=978-0-520-25379-7 |pages=66–71}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jar in Iranian ruins betrays beer drinkers of 3500 B.C. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/05/world/jar-in-iranian-ruins-betrays-beer-drinkers-of-3500-bc.html |date=1992-11-05 |last1=Wilford |first1=John Noble |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=10 November 2010}}</ref>