Drinking alcohol helped ancient people build better societies

People have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years. From Sumer to the Andes, alcohol was not just a beverage. It was a cultural force in many societies.

In ancient Sumer, beer was sacred and strategic. It was offered to gods, paid to workers, and served by elites to show status and power. Even the Epic of Gilgamesh celebrates its civilizing role.

Edward Slingerland’s “drunk hypothesis,” proposed in his book Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, takes this idea further.

Slingerland argues that alcohol helped build civilization. It created bonds, improved cooperation, and sparked creativity. But could drinking really shape political systems?

Alcohol helped societies grow

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute tested the hypothesis using a large global dataset.

“The drunk hypothesis is really intriguing, but so far it has not been quantitatively tested across cultures”, said Václav Hrnčíř, the study’s lead author.

The team collected data on 186 mostly non-industrial societies. They tracked the presence of indigenous fermented drinks and analyzed how this related to political complexity, defined by the number of governing layers.

Their method used Bayesian regression models and controlled for multiple variables like environment, agriculture, and shared ancestry. They tested five models, from the simplest (alcohol alone) to the most comprehensive (alcohol, agriculture, and environment).

Alcohol helped, but farming helped more

The results of the study revealed a clear, though relatively modest, pattern. Societies that produced and consumed their own traditional fermented alcoholic beverages often displayed greater levels of political complexity.

This included more layers of administrative organization, suggesting a link between alcohol use and the growth of structured governance systems. However, the influence of alcohol was not the strongest factor observed.

When the researchers accounted for other important variables – especially the role of agriculture – the direct impact of alcohol became less pronounced.

Model-based predictions showed that, on average, the presence of alcohol corresponded with a 0.77 unit increase in political complexity. But once agriculture and environmental productivity were factored in, the estimated effect dropped to just 0.27 units.

This suggests that while alcohol may have played a role in shaping early political systems, it was likely one among several contributing elements. The ability to cultivate crops and produce food surpluses had a more powerful and consistent influence.

Ultimately, alcohol supported social evolution to some degree, but agriculture remained the primary engine behind the rise of complex societies.

Fermented drinks bonded people

Traditional fermented beverages served more than just intoxication. They built group identity, forged political bonds, and helped leaders gain loyalty.

Feasts with alcohol could mobilize labor, reinforce social roles, and sustain elite power. Hunter-gatherers may have begun farming not just for food, but for alcohol.

Grains like barley, rice, and sorghum, key brewing ingredients, show up early in agricultural history. Yet evidence suggests alcohol came after agriculture in most places, not before.

Cultural context shapes the outcome

Alcohol’s role in society has not been uniform. Its impact varied greatly depending on cultural norms, settings, and the type of beverages consumed. In many traditional societies, alcohol use was tightly woven into community life.

People drank together during communal gatherings, religious ceremonies, seasonal festivals, and social rituals. These occasions helped reinforce shared values, create unity, and mark significant events.

Drinking was public, structured, and often guided by long-standing customs. Because of this, disruptive behavior and negative consequences were relatively uncommon.

Strong alcohol had damaging effects

In contrast, societies where alcohol use became more individualistic experienced different outcomes.

The introduction of stronger, distilled spirits and the rise of solitary drinking practices, especially in modern or colonized contexts, often led to harmful effects.

These included social tension, increased violence, and addiction. Without the cultural frameworks that shaped and limited alcohol use, its consumption became more unpredictable and damaging.

The study behind the drunk hypothesis made a clear distinction here. It focused only on traditional, low-alcohol fermented beverages made before colonial contact. These included drinks like cereal beers, fruit wines, and honey meads.

Modern industrial alcohol – especially high-proof liquors – was excluded from the analysis. That form of alcohol tends to have stronger, often more destructive, social consequences and operates outside the traditional settings that once regulated its use.

Alcohol and complex societies

Alcohol likely played a supporting role in the rise of complex societies. It was one among many social technologies, like music, ritual, religion, and dance, that helped humans cooperate and thrive.

“Getting drunk was probably not the main driver behind the rise of complex societies”, said Hrnčíř. But it may have made the hard work of civilization a little easier and a lot more social.

The study is published in the journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

—–

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. 

Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

—–