Humans invented alcohol before we invented the wheel.

Science & Industry

F ew inventions have shaped the course of history more than the wheel, which dates back to roughly 3500 BCE. That may seem ancient (and it is, by definition), but it's positively fresh-faced compared to what was apparently a higher priority for our ancestors: alcohol, which is at least 9,000 years old. That knowledge comes to us from Qiaotou, China, where pottery containing alcohol residue was discovered in 2021. Also found at the site were two skeletons, suggesting it was a burial pit and that consumption of beer — in this case made from rice, tubers, and pearl barley — has long been a part of funerals.

Though alcohol comes in many forms, there's only one kind that humans can consume safely: ethanol, which is present in every boozy beverage we drink. The other types include methanol and isopropyl, which are poisonous to humans even in small doses because they're metabolized as toxins. Both have their uses, however: Isopropyl, the primary ingredient in rubbing alcohol, is widely used in cleaning products and disinfectants, while methanol is used in everything from fuel and antifreeze to plastic and construction materials.

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By the Numbers

Gallons of alcohol sold per capita in New Hampshire in 2023, the most of any state

4.43

Years Prohibition lasted

~14

Did you know?

Women were the first beer brewers.

Women are responsible for countless inventions and firsts, some of them older than others. And while the fact that they were the first beer brewers might not seem as important as pioneering chemotherapy or the computer algorithm, fermented beverages have played a vital role in human culture for nearly as long as humans have had culture. Unlike some other innovations that have murky beginnings, this one is beyond dispute: "Women absolutely have, in all societies, throughout world history, been primarily responsible for brewing beer," said Theresa McCulla, who curates the Smithsonian's American Brewing History Initiative, in an interview with Wine Enthusiast. This tradition dates back to at least 1750 BCE, when the Code of Hammurabi, a set of laws from ancient Babylon, gave women sole jurisdiction over not only beer brewing but also tavern ownership.