Althouse: Why the earliest famers were willing to put more work into the effort...

May 14, 2013

Why the earliest famers were willing to put more work into the effort...

... beer!

20 comments:

TML said...: I thought this was about something totally different; 5/14/13, 7:28 PM
Mark said...: I like listening to random people discuss prehistory as much as I like to hear them expound on future Supreme Court opinions.

Both cases you have people talking smack about what they don't know. Trite or cute, rarely with substance.; 5/14/13, 7:30 PM
chuck said...: I'm pretty sure women were involved...; 5/14/13, 7:31 PM
madAsHell said...: famers!?!; 5/14/13, 7:32 PM
Paddy O said...: "Both cases you have people talking smack about what they don't know."

Welcome to the internet.; 5/14/13, 7:33 PM
edutcher said...: You will pardon my skepticism.; 5/14/13, 7:35 PM
Cody Jarrett said...: So you post, with a link to instapundit, who's whole point of his entry is quoting you with your post about that badly written NPR article?; 5/14/13, 7:35 PM
coketown said...: Some people prefer hunting and gathering; some people prefer farming. Whether more or fewer calories are expended one way or the other, who cares as long as everyone's satisfied?

I mean, really. Hunting, gathering; vagina, penis, tomato, tomahto--I really don't care. I'm a bisexual.

Conclusion: there is no way to casually work this into a conversation.; 5/14/13, 7:39 PM
ricpic said...: Hi, I'm a bisexual and I've got a dildo so stay alert!; 5/14/13, 7:46 PM
Phil 314 said...: Six drinks, and the first was beer; 5/14/13, 7:54 PM
traditionalguy said...: Ancient beers got fermentation from airborne spores falling onto wet bread crumbs left out overnight. It was not as strong as later Yeast started brews but it was a "blissful drink."; 5/14/13, 8:12 PM
ampersand said...: Ötzi the Iceman's famous last words.

"Hold mien bier und vatch this"; 5/14/13, 8:37 PM
ken in tx said...: I have subscribed to beer magazines, archaeology magazines and biblical archaeology magazines. I have seen articles in all of them about ancient beer. I think beer is an important element in the development of civilization. Naturally brewed beer actually contains more protein than the grain from which it is made.
Beer probably predates wine because grain is easier to grow than grapes.; 5/14/13, 8:59 PM
Cedarford said...: Mark said...
I like listening to random people discuss prehistory as much as I like to hear them expound on future Supreme Court opinions.

Both cases you have people talking smack about what they don't know. Trite or cute, rarely with substance
================
As opposed to crystal balling future SCOTUS decisions, prehistory is something we can examine. And we have real experts looking into the 1st 99% of human existence - with many facts, hard cutting edge science (genetic drift, exact areas people grew up in thanks to isotopes in teeth, ground penetrating radar,) - supporting their work.

And what we learn is not just kinda cool things for kids to see in a National Geographic tape...but with relevancy to today in areas like medicine that can be applied to human genetic lines , ecosystem change, when certain favorable or unfavorable mutations 1st occured, horiculture before recorded history, etc.

Read about it sometime, Mark. You may learn something.; 5/14/13, 9:13 PM
Paul said...: Hell, I'd put more work in the making suds than making broccoli any day of the week.; 5/14/13, 9:42 PM
Greg Toombs said...: As madAsHell said... "famers!?!"

Made me think of:

"the beer that made Mel Famey walk us."; 5/14/13, 9:58 PM
William said...: There you have it. Fire was first harnessed to cook meat. Grain was first grown for beer. Beer and BBQ: the building blocks of civilization.; 5/14/13, 11:53 PM
Mark said...: Cedarford, I am an expert on prehistory. Thus I have little interest in hearing the prognostication of people with simplistic ideas and overgeneralizations.

Tell me, how did beer promote agriculture and domestication in the Americas? You do not have the brewing culture of the Near East. East Africa, China also do not line up.

But hey, lets all jump in the armchair and pretend that understanding a little about one hub of domestication means that you can universally apply that idea.; 5/15/13, 6:54 AM
AllenS said...: God invented beer because he wanted us to be happy.; 5/15/13, 8:03 AM
AllenS said...: A handful of 7 year old children were asked, "what they thought of beer."

Tim- "I think beer must be good. My dad says the more beer he drinks the prettier my mom gets."

Melanie - "Beer makes my dad sleepy and we get to watch what we want on television when he is asleep, so beer is nice."

Grady - "My Mom gets funny when she drinks it and takes her top off at parties."

Toby - "My Mom and Dad talk funny when they drink beer and the more they drink the more they give kisses to each other, which is a good thing."

Sarah - "My Dad gets funny on beer. He is funny. He also wets his pants sometimes, so he shouldn't have too much."

Lilly - "My Dad loves beer. The more he drinks, the better he dances. One time he danced right into the pool."

Ethan - "I don't like beer very much. Every time Dad drinks it, he burns the sausages on the barbecue and they taste disgusting."

Mary - "I think beer tastes bitter and I don't like it. Mom likes it, but she gets tired and leans on guys and they have to help her to the bedroom for a quick nap. When they come back, she is all perky and happy, and the guys are all tired out."

Shirley - "I give Dad's beer to the dog and he goes to sleep."

Brittney - "I don't like beer, but mom says it helps you get the guys you want, so I'll have to learn to like it."

Jack - "My Mom drinks beer and she says silly things and picks on my father. Whenever she drinks beer she yells at Dad and tells him to go bury his bone down the street again, but that doesn't make any sense."

Fergie - "My mom never drinks beer when dad is home, but he sometimes does. Then she yells at him when it makes him want to smooch. Mom only drinks beer when dad is away. When it makes her want to smooch, she will do it with everybody, even the Pizza guy, and he is weird."

Alice - "My sister told me you have to drink your own weight in beer before you start to like it. She has some ways to go yet, I think. The guys usually ignore her until they have had a whole lot of beer, then they get nice and play with her."

Brad - "Beer tastes disgusting. My brother told me it makes you think the girls are pretty. With his girlfriend I would need an awful lot of beer."; 5/15/13, 8:07 AM