How Steady Supply of Beer Kept Empires Afloat

New York: A steady supply of locally-brewed beer kept empires afloat in the past when people came together during festivities in order to recreate and reaffirm their affiliation with their leaders, an interesting study has found. The researchers studied the Wari empire that stretched across Peru. It lasted for 500 years — from 600 AD to 1100 AD — before eventually giving rise to the Inca. That’s a long time for an empire to remain intact, and archaeologists are studying remnants of the Wari culture to see what kept it ticking.

The study found an important factor that might have helped: a steady supply of beer. “This study helps us understand how beer fed the creation of complex political organizations,” said Ryan Williams, Head of Anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. “We were able to apply new technologies to capture information about how ancient beer was produced and what it meant to societies in the past,” he added in a paper published in the journal Sustainability. Nearly 20 years ago, Williams and his team discovered an ancient Wari brewery in Cerro Baul in the mountains of southern Peru. At the local brew houses at Cerro Baul, a light, sour beverage called chicha was made available that was only good for about a week after being made to drink it. These festivals were important to Wari society — between 100-200 local political elites would attend, and they would drink chicha from three-feet-tall ceramic vessels decorated to look like Wari gods and leaders. (IANS)

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