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Comment
. 2015 Jan 13;112(2):308-9.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1421566112. Epub 2014 Dec 31.

Ferment in the family tree

Nathaniel J Dominy  1
Affiliations
Comment

Ferment in the family tree

Nathaniel J Dominy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Alcohol production in antiquity. (A) Early Neolithic jars, with flaring necks and rims, from Phase 2–3 of Jiahu (Henan Province, China), ca. 6500–5500 B.C.E. Chemical analyses (6) indicate a fermented mix of rice, honey, and fruit. Image courtesy of Juzhong Zhang (Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Henan Province, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China). (B) A Sumerian tablet reports the allocation of beer, Late Uruk period, ca. 3100–3000 B.C.E. (British Museum accession no. 140855; photo © Trustees of the British Museum). (C) Impression of a Sumerian cylinder seal from the Early Dynastic IIIa period, ca. 2600 B.C.E. (27). The upper row depicts the use of long straws to drink unfiltered beer from a globular vessel (British Museum accession no. 121545; photo © Trustees of the British Museum). (D) Facsimile painting from the tomb of Nakht (Theban Tomb 52, Egypt), ca. 1400–1390 B.C.E. The scene depicts early viticulture and wine production. Image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org, artists Norman de Garis Davies, Lancelot Crane, and Francis Unwin; Rogers Fund, 1915.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
(A) Inflorescense of Ravenala madagascariensis. The large bracts contain pooled, possibly fermented, nectar. Image courtesy of Rolf P. Kudritzki (University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI). (B) Ground-sourced fruits exhibit a range of developmental stages; here the fruits of Stemmadenia donnell-smithii (Apocynaceae) illustrate decomposition. For African apes, overripe fruits could have a calorically optimal combination of sugar and ethanol. Image courtesy of Jim Marden (Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA). (C) A recumbent chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) consumes the fermented fruit of an undetermined species in Kibale National Park, Uganda (image courtesy of Mike Knoche). (D) A mantled howling monkey (Alouatta palliata) consumes the fruit of Astrocaryum standleyanum (Arecaceae), a species in which ripe fruit can have an ethanol content ranging from 0.52 to 0.61% (25) (image courtesy of Greg Willis).
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References

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