Brian Muraresku on history: what the evidence says · JRE #1543
SUBJECT: HISTORY
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
there's this really interesting place called the Rockefet Cave. And it was a burial site with about 30 individuals. This is between 11,700 BC and 9,700 BC. A team from Stanford went in there and they found these boulder mortars in which they found traces of the malting and mashing of greens, which they think was for beer.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
A 2018 study led by Stanford archaeologist Li Liu, with University of Haifa co-authors, examined stone mortars from Raqefet Cave (Muraresku says "Rockefet"), a roughly 13,000-year-old Natufian burial site near Haifa, Israel, where remains of about 30 individuals have been recovered. Residue analysis indicated the mortars were used for storing and processing cereals, including malting, mashing, and fermenting a mixture of wheat, barley, and other plants, consistent with a beer-like beverage rather than a modern beer recipe. Researchers described the find as the oldest known evidence of man-made alcohol and suggested it supports, without proving, the "beer before bread" hypothesis. Muraresku's account is substantially accurate on the core facts (Stanford-led team, roughly 30 individuals, mortars, malting/mashing residue interpreted as beer-related), though the cave name is mispronounced and the specific date framing (11,700-9,700 BC) is an approximate simplification of the study's roughly 13,000-year-old dating.