21. Ancient Alcoholics Created Civilization?
For millions of years, ever since the first proto-humans came down from the trees and walked upright, our species has survived as hunter gatherers. Even after we evolved into Homo sapiens, we continued to collect our food from the abundance of nature as hunter gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years. Then, about twelve thousand years ago, some humans domesticated plants and animals, and switched from hunter gatherers to a settled life of farmers and agriculturalists. It caught on. Within a relatively short time in historic terms, most humans settled down and adopted agriculture. Hunter-gatherers were reduced to a tiny minority, banished to the least desirable lands. Why did the first farmers take up farming, though?
It was long assumed that bread was the cause. Some smart stone agers learned how to cultivate grains, and after a lot of experimentation, figured out how to grind them into flour, mix that into dough, and make bread. Bread was a miracle food: a complete meal in one tasty lump. On top of that, the grains from which bread was made could last for years after they were harvested. So people began to till, plant, and weed in an effort to grow enough to feed their group year-round. Grains can also be turned into beer. Some scholars argue that people first grew grain not because they wanted bread, but because they wanted booze. Is it possible that the roots of settlement and civilization lay in beer, not bread?
