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Alcohol could have been a catalyst for human civilization, when man decided to start farming, according to archaeologist Patrick McGovern. Humans may have turned from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the result of an urge for alcoholic beverages. "Alcohol provided the initial motivation," said McGovern, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. "Then it got going the engine of society."

Why not make bread instead of beer? McGovern said beer was simply easier to make. "Alcohol was always present right from the beginning," McGovern said, adding that early man also relied on the beverage for rituals and medicinal purposes. In a new book, titled Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer and Other Alcoholic Beverages, he further the details his research on the history of alcohol brewing.

"Õlu on elu," the Estonians say -- "Beer is Life."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/features/did-a-thirst-for-beer-spark-civilization-1869187.html