Oldest Chinese Beer Brewery Found
最古老的中国啤酒制造厂

Remnants of a beer-making operation some 5,000 years old have been found in northern China
在中国北部发现了有着5000年历史的啤酒制造厂遗址。

播音/撰文: Cynthia Graber

翻译 bing

审校：吴非

Beer. It’s hugely popular today, but that’s nothing new: people have been drinking beer for thousands of years, all around the world. And now a brewing site some 5,000 years old has been found in China—the oldest ever found there by a millennium. The remains offer clues not only to ancient tastes, but to ancient agricultural practices as well.
啤酒在今天十分流行，却它可不是什么新鲜玩意，因为全世界的人已经喝了数千年的酒。最近，考古学家在中国发现了一个有大约5000年历史的酿酒遗址,这将中国的酿酒历史向前推进了一千年。从这个遗址中，我们不仅可以知道古代啤酒的口味，也可以了解古人的农业活动。

We had information about ancient Chinese beer brewing from inscriptions on what are known as oracle bones—pieces of bone or shell used to try to tell the future. But researchers at a late Neolithic site in northern China have much more successfully revealed the past. They came upon two pits in the excavation that seemed like they were used for brewing. The scientists thought the shape of the pots would lend themselves to the three stages of making beer: first brewing, then filtering, and finally storage.
从甲骨文中，我们可以获得古代中国酿酒遗址的相关信息。甲骨是占卜时用的龟甲或兽骨。在中国北部的晚新石器时代遗址中，研究人员收获颇丰。他们在挖掘过程中发现两个很有可能是古时人们用来酿酒的地窖。根据窖中罐子的形状，科学家可以推测古时酿酒有三个程序；酿造、过滤和储藏。

So they analyzed the yellowish residue on the inside of the pots. They found remnants of starch grains—millet, barley, and another grain called Job’s tears. They also found the remains of tubers such as yams.
通过分析罐内微黄色的残留物，研究发现了淀粉粒、粟、大麦、薏米和山药的茎。

And the grains had damage associated with brewing. Some had pits and channels on the surface, which would come from the sprouting process during malting. Many had swollen and merged with other grains, which would happen during mashing when grains are heated in water. The team found other chemical signatures that point to beer as well.
罐中的谷物遭到破坏，这与酿酒过程有关。一些在萌芽过程中表面变得凹凸不平，一些在热水中磨碎的时候膨胀，并且与其他谷物混杂在一起。同时，调查团队还发现了指向啤酒的其他化学证据。

The research is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [Jiajing Wang et al., Revealing a 5000-year-old beer recipe in China]
该研究发布在《美国国家科学院院刊》（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）中。

The scientists say that the find demonstrates that by 5,000 years ago the Chinese had developed a complicated recipe and process for fermenting beer. The find also represents the earliest barley ever found in China. And the researchers believe that barley was first introduced to the region to make alcoholic beverages rather than for food. And that the particular beer they found evidence for might have played a role in the feasts of the emerging complex society in the region—one also known as “the cradle of Chinese civilization.”
科学家称，此项发现表明在5000年前，中国人民就已经发明了复杂的酿造啤酒的工艺和配方。同时，人们从中发现了中国最早的大麦。研究人员认为，大麦被引入该地区时是用于造酒的，而不是粮食作物。该地区被称作“中华文明的摇篮”，而啤酒的出现可能对复杂社会的形成起着很重要的作用。

Cheers!
干杯！