Prehistory

There is no certainty as to when humans first produced alcoholic drinks. The earliest alcoholic
drink may have been made from berries or honey. However, the discovery of late Stone Age beer
containers dating back to 8000 BCE demonstrates that humans have been fermenting alcoholic
drinks for at least 10,000 years (1). The establishment of grain farming and permanent
communities in the Near East 10,00012,000 years ago may have been prompted by the desire to
brew beera drink which may have preceded bread as a dietary staple (2, 3, 4).
The fermentation of wine in the region seemingly occurred later. Residue in a jar found in what
is now Iran, dating back to 54005000 BCE, indicates that it once held wine (5). A similar
pattern of agriculture and sedentary settlements preceding alcohol production has been found in
northern China where residue found in jars, dating from 70006600 BCE, indicates that they
contained a fermented drink made from rice, honey, grapes, and hawthorn berries (6).
Ancient world
Wine first appeared in Egyptian pictographs around 4000 BCE (7) and labourers building the
pyramids of Giza received a daily ration of one and one-third gallons of beer. The beer provided
nourishment and the estimated 5% alcohol content provided much-needed calories (5). The drink
was believed to be a necessity of life invented by the god Osiris and was brewed daily in the
typical home (8). At least 17 types of beer and 24 varieties of wine were produced (9) and used
for pleasure, nutrition, medicine, religious ritual, remuneration, and funeral purposes (10).
Drinking was both widespread and generally moderate (11).
According to oral tradition, the Hebrews began drinking wine during their captivity in Egypt.
When Moses led them to Canaan (Palestine) around 1200 BCE they are reported to have
regretted leaving behind the wines of Egypt (Numbers 20:5) but found that vineyards grew well
in their new land (12).
By 1000 BCE, on the other side of the globe, the Mayan civilization of present-day Mexico was
a mead-drinking society. Mayans also fermented a drink from corn or maize (5) and were typical
in drinking alcohol. By the millennium, alcohol was being consumed around the world wherever
people had settled in permanent communities (5). However, there were exceptions, as will be
discussed.
(p.4) In ancient China, alcohol played an important role in religion and other parts of life; In
ancient times people always drank when holding a memorial ceremony, offering sacrifices to
gods or their ancestors, pledging resolution before going into battle, celebrating victory, before
feuding and official executions, for taking an oath of allegiance, while attending the ceremonies
of birth, marriage, reunions, departures, death, and festival banquets (13, p. 13).
A Chinese imperial edict from around 1116 BCE asserted that the moderate consumption of
alcohol was a religious obligation and by the time of Marco Polo (12541324 CE) it was

typically consumed on a daily basis by all segments of society and was a major source of
revenue for the treasury (14).
Among ancient Babylonians the primary drink was beer, but wine was also important, and by
2700 BCE they worshiped a wine goddess and other wine deities (15). Babylonians regularly
used both beer and wine as offerings to their gods (13). Around 1750 BCE, the Code of
Hammurabi attempted to establish fair commerce in alcohol (16).
Winemaking reached the Hellenic peninsula by 2000 BCE (17) and by 1700 BCE it was
commonplace in what is now Greece. Wine was offered to deities, used as a medium of
exchange, as part of rituals, as a medication, to quench thirst, and to promote conviviality (18).
By 700 BCE wine was central to Greek culture and identity; alcohol abstainers were considered
to be lethargic and to emit an unpleasant odour (5). In some Greek states such as Athens, the
consumption of wine was a civic duty. At public feasts officials ensured that everyone received
an equal share of wine; from this grew the concept of demokratia, and then democracy (5). In the
fifth century BCE, Plato argued in his Republic that young people must learn to drink in order to
promote moderation, (5) a view now supported by cross-cultural (19) and empirical research
(20).
Greeks generally promoted drinking in moderation and frowned on drunkenness. Xenophon
(431351 BCE), Plato (429347 BCE), and Cato the Elder (234149 BCE) all promoted
drinking in moderation. Exceptions to this ideal of moderation were the cult of Dionysus, for
whom intoxication was believed to bring people closer to their deity (21, 22), and the
symposium, a gathering of men for an evening of conversation, entertainment, and drinking,
which typically ended in intoxication (18).
Following the Exile of the Hebrews in 539 BCE, wine became a common drink for everyone,
including the very young. It provided a major source of nourishment, an important element in
festivities, a widely used medication, an essential provision for any fortress, and an important
commodity. It thus came to be an essential element in the life of the Hebrews, who had
developed Judaism (22).
At about the same time in Persia (around 523 BCE), King Cyrus promoted the moderate
consumption of alcohol. Nevertheless, ritual intoxication appears to have been used as an adjunct
to decision-making and, at least after his death, drunkenness was not uncommon (23).
From the founding of Rome in 753 BCE until the third century bce, the Romans consumed
alcohol in moderation (23). They considered wine to be of such importance to their society that
in 160 BCE the Roman Senate ordered the translation of a Carthaginian book on viticulture in
order to promote its production (5).
After the Roman Empire spread throughout the Mediterranean region (509133 BCE), the
traditional Roman values of temperance, frugality, and simplicity were gradually replaced by
heavy drinking, ambition, degeneracy, and corruption (18, 24). Excessive drinking in the Roman
Empire was exacerbated by such practices as drinking before meals on an empty stomach,

inducing vomiting to permit the consumption of more food and wine, and playing drinking
games. The latter promoted the rapid consumption of large amounts of alcohol (18).
By the second and first centuries BCE, intoxication was no longer a rarity, and most prominent
men of affairs were praised for their moderation in drinking. This would appear to be in response
to (p.5) growing misuse of alcohol in society, as before that time temperance was not singled out
for praise as exemplary behaviour. As the empire continued to decline, excessive drinking spread
and some individuals, such as Marc Antony (d. 30 BCE), even took pride in their destructive
drinking behaviour (23).
1500 CE
The abuse of alcohol in the Roman Empire appears to have peaked around 50 CE (25). With the
decay of the empire many displaced persons from the hinterlands descended upon Rome. To
placate this deluge of immigrants, large quantities of wine were distributed free or at cost (18).
This led to occasional excesses at festivals and other celebrations and the four emperors who
ruled from 37 to 69 CE were well known for their abusive drinking.
With the rise and spread of Christianity, the beliefs of Christians and the Church became
increasingly important. Jesus is reported to have used wine (Matthew 15:11; Luke 7:3335) and
approved of its moderate consumption (Matthew 15:11). However, he was very critical of
drunkenness (Luke 21:34, 12:42; Matthew 24:4551). Paul the Apostle (d. 67 CE) considered
wine to be a creation of God and therefore inherently good (1 Timothy 4:4) and recommended its
use for medicinal purposes (1 Timothy 5:23), but condemned intoxication (1 Corinthians 3:16
17, 5:11, 6:10; Galatians 5:1921; Romans 13:3) and recommended abstinence for those who
could not control their drinking.
The doctrines and beliefs of Christianity were favourable to the production and consumption of
alcohol, especially wine (21, 26). The Church taught that wine was an inherently good gift of
God to be used and enjoyed. Individuals could choose not to drink, but to despise it was
prohibited as heresy. The Church favoured drinking in moderation but rejected its abuse as a sin.
Those who could not drink in moderation were urged to abstain in order to avoid sinning (23).
Among the Anglo-Saxons alcohol was usually consumed in a mead hall. Every settlement and
village had one or more of these buildings, which were the centre of Anglo-Saxon culture. They
were the houses of the rich and powerful, who used them to maintain their wealth, fame, and
power through the generous distribution of food, mead, and gifts (5).
Around 400 CE the Huns invaded much of Europe and seriously disrupted the production and
consumption of alcoholic drinks for a period of time. They destroyed vineyards, killed vineyard
workers, and drank the cellars dry (5, p. 52). However, this did not have a long-term adverse
effect.
5011000 CE

Wine was the favourite alcoholic drink in what are now Italy, Spain, and France. However, mead,
beer, and wild fruit wines became increasingly popular, especially among Celts, Anglo-Saxons,
Germans, and Scandinavians (18).
Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476 CE and the disintegration of its society (18),
monasteries became the major institution in which to maintain and advance knowledge of
brewing and winemaking techniques. The art of brewing essentially became the province of
monks, who carefully guarded their knowledge (10). Monks brewed virtually all beer of good
quality until the twelfth century.
It is unknown when and where brewing with hops began (27). However, hopped beer was
actually a new drink altogether, a product of the technique of precise fermentation using only
barley, and in which addition of hops ensured an agreeable taste and the possibility of better
conservation (27, p. 10).
During the period 850 to 1100 CE alcohol was central to Viking culture and their heaven was
conceived as a place where they would drink endless quantities of mead. Although they preferred
mead, they usually drank ale, which was also a sweet drink (5).
(p.6) 10011500 CE
In the eleventh century, an observant physician practising in Constantinople reported that
drinking wine in excess caused inflammation of the liver (21).
In England the dietary staple for commoners was ale, which they considered to be a food rather
than a drink. Men, women, and children all had ale for breakfast, with their dinner, and before
they went to bed. A gallon a day was the typical consumption level for adults (5).
Ale was considered so vital to the existence of commoners that in 1267 King Henry III regulated
its quality and price by law (5). The most popular festivities in the country were known as ales,
and both ale and beer were commodities that could be given to lords in payment of rent (10).
Wine was imported and expensive in England and few commoners ever tasted it. However, it
became very popular among the gentry. The resulting demand led to a dramatic viticultural
expansion in the Bordeaux region of France (5).
During the twelfth century in Germany, towns were granted the privilege of brewing and selling
beer locally. This led to a flourishing brewing industry in many towns, about which there was
strong civic pride (10).
A major development in alcohol during the Middle Ages (about 5001500 CE) was the discovery
of distillation and the subsequent production of distilled spirits. However, there is no agreement
as to exactly when or where distillation was first perfected. Authorities disagree as to whether it
was in China, Greece, Italy, Arabia, or elsewhere (1). However, strong evidence suggests that it
was in Arabia (2830). What is clear is that Albertus Magnus (11931280) was the first person to
clearly describe the process whereby distilled spirits could be produced (1).

Physicians, monks, and others slowly became interested in distilling alcohol as a medication
rather than as a drink produced for enjoyment or other purposes. It was a professor of medicine,
Amaldus of Villanova (d. 1315), who apparently named distilled spirits aqua vitae (water of life).
He wrote, We call it [distilled liquor] aqua vitae, and this name is remarkably suitable, since it is
really a water of immortality. It prolongs life, clears away ill-humors, revives the heart, and
maintains youth (31, p. 172). During the fifteenth century a German physician identified over
two dozen conditions that he claimed distilled spirits benefitted or cured (31).
The consumption of spirits as a drink rather than as an assumed elixir began to occur by the end
of the Middle Ages (30). Being a distilled spirit, brandy was first known as aqua vitae. The more
specific name of brandy was derived from the Dutch term brandewijn, meaning cooked or burnt
(distilled) wine (32). The Dutch were also the first to flavour distilled spirits with juniper berries.
The first distilled spirit to be made from beer was produced in Sweden, where mention of it dates
back to 1469 (21).
The consumption of alcohol appears to have been high. For example, beer consumption in
Bavaria was probably about 300 litres per capita a year (compared to about 150 litres today) and
in Florence wine consumption was about ten barrels per capita a year (23). Over time, the use of
alcohol became ubiquitous. It was brewed in the home, consumed with meals, and served to
children. It was used in religious services and intoxication was considered natural and blameless
(5).
During this period of time the popularity of beer spread to England, France, and Scotland (23).
By 1493, the brewers of London established their own guild (5) and the adulteration of beer or
wine became a crime punishable by death in Scotland (10).
Beginning in 1492, the Spanish found diverse drinking cultures in the Americas. Mesoamerican
civilizations were very ingenious in identifying potential sources of alcohol; They fermented
cacti and their fruits, maize and its stalks, the sap of a good two-dozen species of agave, honey,
sasparilla, (p.7) the seed pods of the mesquite tree, hog plums, and the fruit and bark of various
other trees. The Spanish noted that no tribe has been found which is content to drink only
water (5, pp. 956).
However, The introduction of large quantities of alcohol into a volatile environment of colonial
domination disrupted traditional indigenous social structures, even in areas with long-standing
traditions of alcohol use (2, p. 51). Although many forms of native alcoholic drinks became less
popular after the Spanish conquest, pulque, the fermented juice of the maguey plant, grew in
popularity (5).
1501 CEpresent
The first official census of England, conducted in 1577, reported the existence of 14,202
alehouses, 1,631 inns, and 329 taverns. This equalled a pub for every 187 persons, and excluded
other outlets such as tippling houses and street vendors (5).

In 1620, the Puritans brought more beer than water on the Mayflower and they landed at
Plymouth rather than continuing their journey because their provision of beer was running low
(33). Subsequently, brewing beer became one of the earliest industries in colonial North America
(2).
Except for several tribes in the Southwest, Native Americans did not have alcoholic drinks
before their introduction by Europeans in the 1600s. The Apache and Zuni consumed alcoholic
drinks which they produced for secular consumption, while the Pima and Papago produced
alcohol for religious ceremonial consumption. Although Papago consumption was heavy, it was
limited to a single peaceable annual ceremony and the drinking among other groups was also
infrequent and not associated with any drinking problems (34). Similarly, Alcohol was virtually
unknown in Australia until Europeans began arriving in the late eighteenth century (35, p. 212).
During the first century and a half (16201775) of the North American Colonies that became the
United States, alcohol was widely and heavily used. Alcohol was viewed positively, while its
abuse was condemned. The Catholic Church taught that alcohol was a gift of God and created to
be used in moderation for pleasure, enjoyment, and health; drunkenness was viewed as a sin
(23). In 1673, the leading Puritan minister, Increase Mather, asserted that Drink is in itself a
creature of God, and to be received with thankfulness (36, p. 10). This was consistent with the
teachings of earlier protestant religious leaders such as Martin Luther (14831564) and John
Calvin (15091564). On the other hand, Islam taught that the consumption of alcohol, in any
amount, was unacceptable; And besides, wine would be available in heaven (5, p. 67).
To reduce the death rate, the governor of Virginia advertised in 1609 for two brewers (5) and
colonial Connecticut required each town to ensure that a place could be made available for the
purchase of beer and ale (37).
Taverns were central to colonial life and were often legally required to be located near schools
and churches. Religious services and court sessions were often held in taverns and they also
served as venues for plays, political debates, lodge meetings, and socializing (38).
Sparkling wine or generic champagne first occurred in England when wine from the Champagne
region was stored in cellars over the winter and underwent a secondary fermentation. It was
called brisk champagne and appeared in the English language in 1664. However, the French
considered bubbles in wine to be sacrilege (5). Contrary to common myth, Dom Prignon, the
wine master in a French abbey, did not invent champagne. He did, however, improve the process
by using appropriately strong bottles, invented a more efficient corking system, and began the
practice of blending the contents (39).
Whiskey, the first grain spirit, is believed to have first been distilled in Ireland. While its specific
origins are unknown (40) there is evidence that by the sixteenth century it was widely consumed
in (p.8) some parts of Scotland (31). It was also during the same century that Franciscus Sylvius
(or Franz de la Boe), a professor of medicine at the University of Leyden, distilled spirits from
grain (31).

The production and distribution of spirits spread slowly. Spirit drinking was still largely for
medicinal purposes throughout most of the sixteenth century. It has been said of distilled alcohol
that the sixteenth century created it; the seventeenth century consolidated it; the eighteenth
popularized it (30, p. 170).
The increase in distilling was promoted in part by the expansion of sugar production in the
Caribbean, which provided molasses for the production of rum (2). The first mention of this
drink was made in a 1651 description of Barbados (5).
The cost of rum dropped after the North American colonists began importing molasses and cane
sugar directly and distilled their own. By 1657, a rum distillery was operating in Boston and
within a generation the production of rum became colonial New Englands largest and most
prosperous industry (31). In addition, almost every important town from Massachusetts to the
Carolinas had a rum distillery to meet the local demand, which had increased dramatically (36).
In the Triangle Trade, rum was traded for African slaves, who were then traded to the West
Indians for more molasses to be made into more rum (41).
In 1690, England passed legislation to promote distilling, and within four years the annual
production of distilled spirits, most of which was gin, reached nearly one million gallons (31).
This resulted in the so-called Gin Epidemic. While the negative effects of that phenomenon
may have been exaggerated (21, p. 21, 27), Parliament passed legislation in 1736 to discourage
consumption by prohibiting the sale of gin in quantities of less than two gallons and raising the
tax on it dramatically (39). However, consumption continued to rise and the peak was reached
seven years later, when the nation of 6.5 million people drank over 18 million gallons of gin.
Most of this was consumed by the small minority of the population then living in London and
other cities; people in the countryside largely remained loyal to beer, ale, and cider (39, 42).
There was a general recognition in most of the world of the positive nature of moderate
consumption of alcohol combined with a concern about the negative effects of drunkenness.
Nevertheless, the consumption of alcohol was sometimes high. During the 1500s, alcohol
consumption reached 100 litres per person per year in Valladolid, Spain, and Polish peasants
consumed up to three litres of beer per day (30). In Denmark, the usual consumption of beer
appears to have been a gallon per day for adult labourers (23). The average amount of beer and
ale consumed in Coventry, England, was about 17 pints per person per week, compared to about
three pints today (43); Swedish beer consumption may have been 40 times higher than in modern
Sweden (23).
Before the early 1700s the supply of alcoholic drinks in Europe was generally lower than the
demand. However, the agricultural revolution produced so much grain and fruit that the supply
of alcohol met the high demand. Workers and peasants were then able to drink at the same levels
as the affluent, a situation later described by the French government as the democratization of
alcohol (44).
In 1830, the inhabitants of Great Britain consumed daily nearly four ounces of pure alcohol per
capita. Consumption peaked in the 1870s and then began a downward trend. The comparable

figure for Sweden was just below two ounces. By the end of the 1800s, consumption in Britain,
Ireland, and Denmark had fallen to about one ounce per day per capita (44).
Some historians attribute this decline in alcohol consumption to the increasing caloric content
provided by other foods such as bacon, sugar, and butter (44). However, there were clearly many
other factors operating, a major one being the spreading temperance movement.
Vineyards were established in Australia by the first fleet of convicts to arrive in New South
Wales in 1788. By 1795, alcohol had become a medium of exchange there (5).
(p.9) Absinthe was invented in Switzerland and introduced into France in 1805. In subsequent
decades it became especially popular there and in the French colonies (21).
As industrialization progressed, drunkenness became seen as inconsistent with the need for a
reliable and punctual workforce and labour efficiency. Problems commonly associated with
industrialization and rapid urbanization were also attributed to alcohol. Thus, issues such as
urban crime, poverty, and high infant mortality rates were blamed on alcohol, although it is
likely that gross overcrowding and unemployment had much to do with these problems (21, p.
21).
During the second half of the 1800s, many Protestant Churches began to reject traditional
Christian beliefs about alcohol and started to teach that the substance of alcohol was evil and that
drinking it was a sin. However, this new doctrine created a dilemma because the Bible reports
that Jesus both made and drank wine. To address this predicament, theologians developed the
two-wine theory. According to the new doctrine, whenever wine was used by Jesus or praised
as a gift of God, it was really grape juice; only when it caused drunkenness or other problems
was it wine. Thus, they came to interpret the Bible as asserting that grape juice is good but that
alcohol is bad and that drinking it, even in moderation, is a sin (45, 46). Thus, the good gift of
God became Demon Rum.
Over time, more and more personal, economic, criminal, family, social, moral, and religious
problems were attributed to alcohol. This led to the rise of temperance groups, which were first
established in the United States in 1808, in England in 1817, in Sweden in 1818, in Ireland in the
1820s, in New Zealand in 1836, in Sri Lanka in 1898, and in dozens of other countries around
the globe (19, 37).
Groups typically began by promoting voluntary temperance or the moderate use of alcohol. They
then sometimes called for mandatory temperance. But virtually all would soon come to demand
mandatory and legally enforced prohibition. They insisted that the total prohibition of the
production, distribution, sale, and consumption of all alcoholic drinks would eliminate most, if
not all, poverty, crime, violence, immorality, marital conflict, and other personal and societal
problems (19, 45).
Strong temperance movements resulted in the establishment of prohibition of alcohol in Russia
(19161917), Hungary (21 March1 August 1919), Norway (19191927), Finland (19191932),
Iceland (19191932), the United States (19201933), Canada (provinces implemented and

abolished prohibition independently over time), and many other countries around the world.
Unfortunately, countries discovered that implementing alcohol prohibition did not eliminate
social problems but would compound the situation by creating additional, unanticipated, but very
serious problems (19, 37).
In 1935, Alcohol Anonymous was organized to address alcoholism and has since spread to about
190 countries around the world (46). The year 1973 saw the identification of what is now known
as fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS (47). In 1980, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) was
established to reduce alcohol-impaired driving and quickly raised consciousness about the
severity and unacceptability of the crime.
In addition to concerns about the negative effects of inappropriate alcohol consumption, there
was increasing evidence, beginning in the 1970s, that, unless contraindicated, the moderate
consumption of alcohol (beer and other malt drinks, wine, and distilled spirits) is associated with
better health and greater longevity than is either abstaining or abusing alcohol (4850).
Over the last three decades there have been increasing calls for further restrictions on the
availability and consumption of alcohol. These include tax increases; higher minimum legal
drinking ages; lower legal blood alcohol concentration levels for operating motor vehicles and
other equipment; promotion of abstinence from drinking; more vigorous enforcement of alcohol
laws; more (p.10) severe punishment for alcohol law violators; stronger server (commercial and
social) liability laws; stronger warning labels on alcoholic drink containers; increased restrictions
on alcohol advertising and promotion; and the stigmatization of alcohol and marginalization of
those who consume alcohol, even when doing so in moderation (19, 45).
What additional measures this most recent movement will propose in its effort to reduce alcohol
abuse cannot be known at this time.
Summary
Alcoholic drinks have been produced and consumed by humans for thousands of years and have
played an important role in religion; supplying nutrition and energy; providing medicinal,
antiseptic, and analgesic benefits; quenching thirst; facilitating relaxation; promoting conviviality
and social cohesion; increasing the pleasure of eating; providing pharmacological pleasure; and
generally enhancing the quality and pleasures of life.
The function(s) in society that alcoholic drinks should have, if any, have often been highly
controversial and the subject of great debate. Illustrative of this was the establishment and later
retraction of nationwide prohibitions of alcohol in many countries over the past century. Still
today, there exists a conflict of views as to whether alcohol is an attractive elixir or a dangerous
poison.
The current debate about alcohol can often be found in the spheres of politics, public policy,
religion, morality, popular culture, law, medicine, and public health.