The theory of the importance of beer was first sparked by Middle Eastern pre-history scholar Robert Braidwood at the University of Chicago in the 1950s.
Pointing to grain and sickles found in settlements of the Natufians, who lived from 13,000 to 19,000BC in what is now Syria, Jordan and Israel, he says barley was a reason humans settled and abandoned a nomadic way of life.
He says the Natufians used the grain for food, but an academic rival, Jonathan Sauer, said that the basic reaping technology available would have brought in a 'pitifully small return of grain for their labour'.
Therefore, they would have wanted something more rewarding and valuable than food - alcohol.
The theory has been backed by Solomon Katz, an anthropology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who claims there is little evidence of the popularity of bread.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2527074/Did-BEER-create-modern-society-Ancient-man-developed-agriculture-brew-alcohol-not-bake-bread-claims-scientist.html#ixzz49fAiQ3Ou
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
How Beer Gave Us Civilization... NY times
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html?_r=0
Alcohol's Neolithic Origins: Brewing Up a Civilization... der spiegel
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/alcohol-s-neolithic-origins-brewing-up-a-civilization-a-668642.html
= new reply since forum marked as read