Barley & Beer

It was very interesting to hear that beer saved the world in our Monday lecture.  This dates back to how the first sedentary lifestyles were created.  After agriculture was formed the human race was able to shape into larger societies, paving the way for our civilization today.  Barley was one of the first domesticated grains in the Fertile Crescent, an ancient area of fertile soil that is regarded as the birthplace of agriculture.  It was first populated in 10,000 BCE when the domestication of animals and agriculture began in the region.  The fertile there encouraged the further cultivation wheat, rye, barley and some of the earliest beer in the world. 

Agricultural food production was a huge success for mankind.  Barley was said to have been the main reason that the agricultural revolution happened.  Barley led the hunter gathers to a life of sedentary living and resulted in civilization.  The video we watched in class theorized that it was not bread these ancient people were making with the barley, it was beer.   This was a very interesting to me and made me see why beer is not just a delicious alcoholic beverage, but it also stimulated the growth of civilization. 

We learned more about the domestication of barley on our field study to Carlsberg laboratory, which I appreciated.  I was interested to hear more about the way in which they cross breed and select different barley plants to try to find the best strain for cultivation.   The field study showed about how barley still is very important to mankind, through beer.  I really enjoyed all of the slides about the many benefits of beer.  For example it is refreshing after you have done exercise, and people participate in running and beer clubs that combine the two.  Monday’s lecture and the field study really helped me to see just how important barley has been to mankind.  I don’t know where our civilization would be today if we didn’t have beer!

Relevant Websites:
1: http://www.carlsberglab.dk/Pages/default.aspx
2: http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/4/499.full
3: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/how-beer-saved-the-world/
4: http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/raley_timetable.shtml
5: http://archaeology.about.com/od/domestications/g/barley.htm

Photo Citations:
Image 1: http://www.icarda.org/fertile-crescent
Image 2: http://www.carlsberggroup.com/Company/heritage/Pages/footprints.aspx
Image 3: http://theadmiraldrake.co.uk/?attachment_id=1390