To substantiate and illustrate the centrality of Molecular Archaeology in bridging the divide between the natural sciences and the humanities, I draw upon my laboratory’s research on "fermentation" and “ancient medicine.”   Fermentation is probably the first energy system on Earth, which is embodied in the physiology of all animals, including humans.  It is probably the first biotechnology discovered and put to use by our species.  In short, we coevolved with microorganisms, then harnessed them to our purposes in many innovative ways—to provide alcohol as an energy source and for dissolving botanical compounds which have medicinal properties.  <br/>     Arguably, the most important fermentation system used by humankind was to make fermented beverages.  As the universal medicine, social lubricant, mind-altering substance, religious symbol, artistic inspiration, and highly valued commodity, fermented beverages around the world became the focus of religious cults, pharmacopoeias, cuisines, economies, and society. The products of fermentation likely had much to do with the evolution of our bodies, brains, and cultures, including more advanced civilizations based on the domestication of cereals and other plants that provided the basis for permanent settlements. The speaker will show how a range of increasingly more precise chemical techniques are essential to resolving key archaeological questions, including why fermented beverages are so central to human cultures around the world and as far back in time as we can detect them.<br/>

Uncorking the past: Alcoholic beverages as the universal medicine before synthetics

255th National Meeting (2018)

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