Excavations of the Neolithic settlement Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands turned up 30-gallon pottery jars, the dregs of which—analyzed—turned out to contain an alcoholic brew made from barley and oats, flavored with meadowsweet and topped off with a hallucinogenic handful of deadly nightshade, henbane, and hemlock. The ancient Egyptians made beer and wine. Financial records show that the thirsty builders of the Giza pyramids had a beer ration of over a gallon a day; and Tutankhamun’s tomb held 26 wine jars with vintages (both red and white) from fifteen different vintners.

The ancient Chinese made wine from rice and grapes; the Mayans made pulque from fermented corn; the Celts got tipsy on mead; and the Mongols drank kumis from