Ancient Beer Found in Chinese Tomb Dates Back 2,200 Years

Researchers in China have discovered a nearly gallon of still-liquid beer dating back approximately 2,200 years, preserved within an ancient bronze vessel. The find, detailed in the Journal of Archaeological Science, is noted for its exceptional state of preservation and significant volume, potentially representing one of the largest quantities of alcoholic beverage residue recovered from that historical period.

The beer was found during excavations of the Shanjiabao cemetery in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The site contained 183 tombs from the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), a time of significant political upheaval in China prior to unification. The bronze vessel, containing about 3.74 liters of the liquid, was located in a tomb belonging to the Qin dynasty.

According to Ruru Chen, a researcher at Northwest University’s School of Cultural Heritage in Xi’an, China, the liquid appeared clear with a light blue-green hue and contained sediment. It had no noticeable odor. Analysis suggests the beverage was non-distilled and likely made from millet, or a combination of millet with wheat or barley, rather than resembling a distilled spirit.

Scholars theorize that the ancient alcohol may have been placed in the tomb as an offering to accompany the deceased into the afterlife. The remarkable preservation is attributed to a combination of factors, including the dry local environment, the bronze vessel itself, its sealing method, and specific burial conditions.

This discovery follows another find in 2024 of 2,300-year-old beer in a Qin state tomb in China's Shaanxi province. That brew was also identified as being made from wheat or barley, millet, pulses, and grass seeds. Archaeologists suggest these findings provide concrete evidence for increasingly sophisticated brewing techniques during the late Zhou and Qin periods.

Further archaeological evidence indicates a long history of alcohol production in China, with traces of 9,000-year-old rice-based alcohol found in Henan province. Globally, the oldest known evidence of alcohol consumption includes traces of wheat- and barley-based beer discovered in 13,000-year-old stone mortars in a cave in Israel, representing the oldest record of man-made alcohol found to date.