Humans around the world have shown a remarkable propensity to ferment available sugar sources into alcoholic beverages. These drinks have significantly contributed to cultural innovation and development, including agricultural and horticultural skills to harness natural resources, technologies to produce beverages and to make special vessels to serve, drink and present them ceremonially, and their incorporation into feasting and other activities. Molecular archaeological analyses of a range of pottery forms from the Liangchengzhen site, China, illustrate how contemporaneous chemical data, in conjunction with intensive archaeological and botanical recovery methods, enable the reconstruction of prehistoric beverages and their cultural significance. During the middle Longshan period (ca. 2400 2200 BC),a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit (probably hawthorn fruit or grape) was presented as grave offerings and consumed by residents in the regional center.
