Chinese Started Cultivating Rice In Order To Make Beer?

Study Finds reports on how a "10,000-year-old beer recipe reveals how alcohol shaped human civilization." The article indicates that researches have uncovered evidence of brewing in China’s Lower Yangzi River valley some 10,000 years ago. "These findings not only push back the timeline of alcohol production in the region," according to the article, "but also suggest that our ancient ancestors may have been motivated to cultivate rice not just for food but for brewing beer." 

    What they found [when studying the pottery recovered] was remarkable: evidence of an early beer-making process that used rice, various grains, acorns, and lily bulbs, along with something called a “qu starter” – a fermentation agent containing mold and yeast that’s still used in Chinese brewing today.

    This discovery is particularly significant because it coincides with the early stages of rice domestication. ...