It was a straw for drinking beer 5,000 years ago

An analysis of gold and silver fine pipes discovered 125 years ago in Northern Caucasus, revealing that they were not scepts but beverage straws.

Russian archeologist Nikolai Veselovsky excavated the above -mentioned relic in 1897 at the Kurgan in Mycope (tomb) in Northern Caucasus.It was a very important archeological site of the Bronze Age, where hundreds of items and three skeletons such as semi -stone, gold beads, pottery, metal cups and weapons were buried.This mound is from my cope culture (around 3700-2900 BC) named after the cemetery archeological site.

Veselovsky found eight long and thin pipes out of many items.It is a buried product that was carefully and intentionally placed on the right hand side of a high -positioned person buried in elaborate decoration clothes.These fine pipes were made from gold and silver, the length was over 1 meter, of which four were decorated with small or silver bulls.They have been moved to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and have been held today.

Veselovsky called the fine pipe "scepter".Considering the height of the buried bodies and their careful arrangement, it is a reasonable guess.It seems plausible that these items 5,000 years ago were used as scepets (that is, the wand or stick that the king was reigned), but it was published in Antiquity for this interpretation.The latest paper is asking questions.He claims that the pipe was a beverage straw.If this interpretation is correct, "These elaborate decorative tools will be the oldest surviving drink straws," said Viktor Trifonov, an archeologist in Russian Science Academy in St. Petersburg, co -author of the latest paper.I mentioned in the press release.

What was important in this re -analysis was that barley grain was detected in addition to the plant opal of grain (fossiled particles of plant tissue) and pollen grains of synthes from the inside of one straw.This was accepted as a direct evidence that fine pipes were used for beverages.And scientists say that the drinks in question were beer because of the traces of barley.

It is not an expanded interpretation that the people of the Bronze Wearing era were drinking barley fermented.The custom dates back to the Natof period, which is 13,000 years ago, but a large brewery began to appear in Asia within 5 to 4,000 BC.Although it is plausible to drink barley beer flavored with herbs and cinnoki flowers, it is plausible, but as pointed out by researchers, "I can't clearly prove the existence of fermented beverages."Therefore, "research results should be treated carefully because further analysis is required."

The important thing is that the tip of the straw of My Corp has a metal filer, which plays a role in removing impurities (a characteristic that is common in ancient beer).Scientists have made a hypothesis that this drink pipe and the tip of the tip were "designed to sip a drink that required filtration when drinking," and several people were drinking together from one container.。The giant jar excavated in My Corp Kulgan can drink 7 pints (less than 4 liters).

The straw -tip of the straw tip found in My Corp Kulgan was very similar to the features seen in the Sumerian drink straw.Ancient Sumer, around 3,000 BC, is known for drinking beer from a shared jar, as you can see from archeological buried goods and artworks that depict their habits.The oldest description that indicates that he was drinking with a straw is the art of art 5-4,000 years ago found in northern Iraq and western Iran.

My Corp straws (if so) are special in the archaeological history of the archeological history, but the origin of the straw seems to be in the Middle East, hundreds of miles away from Northern Caucasus.The fact that there is a beverage straw far away suggests that this habit spread in the surrounding area.

"The research results are useful for deepening the ritual feast of the past and the understanding of drinking culture in the class society," said TRIFONOV."Such habits should have been more important and reputable as they spread between two regions."

Certainly, the existence of Mycorp and Krgan's beverage straws hints the cultural and economic ties between regions.In addition, according to scientists, at Caucasus, around 4,000 BC, "preference to eat together with the Sumer -style luxury" appeared, and the straws were used as burial items for the upper class layer.He said he continued to keep his sex.

Other studies have reported interesting discoveries about the relationship between the old people's social life and beer.

Source: Antique,