I thought this was a fun little story. You may not like it as much as I did, but I enjoyed the discovery and thinking of this little owl holding onto a secret stash for thousands of years. What a good little guardian!
For more than 3,000 years, China’s oldest-known distilled spirit remained hidden inside a bronze, owl-shaped vessel unearthed within a Shang Dynasty tomb.
Discovered in 2010 in Jinan, China, the vessel contained a mysterious clear liquid. After 15 years of preservation and study, it was, in 2024, identified as distilled liquor - the earliest-known example in China’s history.
This remarkable discovery has pushed the history of liquor production in China back by more than a millennium.
In December 2010, archaeologists from the Jinan Institute of Archaeology found a bronze, owl-shaped vessel at the Daxinzhuang burial site in Jinan, Shandong Province. Located in Tomb M257, the container was in remarkably good condition and stood out as one of only a few owl vessels ever discovered in the province.
Researchers discovered that the vessel dates back more than 3,000 years, to the Shang Dynasty period of 1600 to 1046 B.C.E…
At the time of the vessel’s discovery, archaeologists noted that it contained a small amount of clear liquid but were unable to completely open it due to the corrosion of the lid. At the time of its burial, the vessel was tightly sealed and not fully oxidized. A thick layer of rust glued the two pieces together, making it difficult for researchers to analyze its contents without harming this historic artifact.
After 14 years, researchers carefully separated the lid from the rest of the container, finally revealing its contents in their entirety.
The mysterious liquid was sent to the International Joint Laboratory of Environmental and Social Archaeology Research at Shandong University for examination. Its examination revealed the presence of water, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and other distillation products.
However, it did not contain sugar proteins or organic acids used in fermented fruit and rice wine. Researchers were ecstatic to hear that the liquid was most likely distilled liquor, the oldest ever found in China.
The rest of the article is mainly on the history of brewing in China and it also has a shot of the back of the pit but it’s pretty plain.
I thought it was a very strange owl until I realised it was facing to the right
Strangely, I ran Google Lens on the image to see if there were better pics in any other articles, and I found this eBay listing. Not sure if it’s real or not, but it at least is easier to see some details.
They found good ancient liquor and did not taste it? What a waste!
Lol, I know I would be so tempted! 😜
Given the risks of improper distillation I would test it first
This is in my longer reply to you, but I thought I’d toss it here for anyone reading this comment first:
Experts at the Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection, Restoration and Identification Center were able to carefully treat the corrosion at the contact point and open the lid. There was only a small amount of red rust, cuprous oxide, on the interior wall of the vessel, proving that the container was tightly sealed during the burial rituals and the contents were not fully oxidized. The tight original seal tightened further by corrosion also prevented the liquid contents from evaporating.
It sounds pretty well preserved! No methanol, a slight bit of rust, and minimal oxidation (for 3000ish years anyway). I see some articles call the vessel copper, others bronze. I dont know what negative effects that residue may have, especially if the metal is an alloy of unknown composition. A quick Google says China tended to use a leaded bronze alloy at this time, so perhaps not the best to drink straight, though I don’t technically see why it couldn’t be redistilled, though then we have a ship of Thesseus arguement about if you’re drinking the same booze or not! 😆
They don’t even describe how it tastes? I paid nothing to read this and I still want a refund.
RIGHT?! I don’t get how one could not be tempted for even the smallest of drops!
Those guys ate some of that Siberian mammoth, and said it tasted horrible, but a horrible mouthful of mammoth is sooooo much better than a life of regret NOT having that horrible taste!!! What if it was the nectar of the gods?!
How dies the container being 3000 years old mean the liquor is? The glass next to me was made in 1920 but the juice in it is not 105 years old. How are they determining the age of the liquid inside? If they haven’t done so then claims about pushing back distillation by a millennia are likely untrue.
I don’t think people should be downvoting you for this, though I do appreciate them being protective of me, since I guess it could be taken as mean spirited, but I took it as a reasonable question.
Since the source I gave was not the most scientific, I looked for some more details, and there are a number of things that seem like they can authenticate this a little better. I’m no archaeologist, and I’m sure the best info on this matter is mainly in Chinese, I’ll share what English facts I can find.
From Early Medieval China Group
One of the Greatest Finds of 2021: The water-filled tombs of Yunmeng’s Zheng Jiahu cemetery site
In the Zheng Jiahu cemetery 郑家湖墓地 in Hubei’s Yunmeng County, archaeologists have made some terrific finds, which has earned the site a place as one of China’s 2021 ten great archaeological discoveries. In the C Area of the cemetery, they excavated 116 tombs, which included over 400 lacquer goods, a number of which are quite rare, such as a tiger head pillow, a flat pot in human form? (人物扁壶), a phoenix-shaped spoon, as well as China’s longest inscribed prism. 14 of the tombs were submerged under water, which not only perfectly preserved their grave goods, but also coffins, skeletons, sacrifices, and grain. Through an analysis of the skeletons, researchers have discovered that the tomb lord of M276 was a Xirong 西戎 woman who only moved south after spending her youth in the dry northern areas. The tomb occupant of M257 also was born in the north, but spent his youth in the JiangHan area. He was a warrior who was buried with three swords that had traces of being used. He died about the same time the Qin unified the Central Plains.
This is about the only thing I saw about the tomb that wasn’t a rephrased article about this owl vessel. It sounds like this tomb, along with some others has been underwater and inaccessible for a very long time. Which some much contextual artifacts found at the same site, it likely makes it easy to pinpoint the era of this particular artifact.
From another article
Experts at the Shandong Provincial Cultural Relics Protection, Restoration and Identification Center were able to carefully treat the corrosion at the contact point and open the lid. There was only a small amount of red rust, cuprous oxide, on the interior wall of the vessel, proving that the container was tightly sealed during the burial rituals and the contents were not fully oxidized. The tight original seal tightened further by corrosion also prevented the liquid contents from evaporating.
It sounds they has adequate physical evidence that this vessel got sealed through natural means early enough that the natural corrosion, evaporative process, and water contamination level indicated this happened relatively soon after it was placed in the tomb.
From another Chinese source about the owl, available in English, translated by them, not an AI as far as I can tell:
The liquid specimen inside the container was sealed and sent to the Joint Laboratory of Environmental and Social Archaeology at Shandong University for testing. The test results confirmed that it was distilled liquor from 3000 years ago. According to Wu Meng, the person in charge of the testing project and an associate researcher at the International Cooperation Laboratory of Environmental and Social Archaeology at Shandong University, after testing, it was found that the remaining liquid in the copper owl jar contained ethanol and other components, confirming that it was alcohol. Fruit wine and rice wine only undergo fermentation without distillation, leaving behind substances such as sugars and proteins that will not completely degrade even if buried for a long time. The remaining liquid in this copper owl jar has been stored in a closed anaerobic environment for a long time. After identification, it was found that only water, ethanol, ethyl acetate and other components were used to make the liquor, which was distilled.
So their find was verified by another group of experts on the matter.
From a different news article
With the continuous advancement of domestic archaeological work, a series of Han Dynasty distillation devices have been unearthed, including a Western Han (206BC-AD25) distillation device unearthed from the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun in East China’s Jiangxi Province and a distillation device unearthed from the Xinmang tomb in Xi’an.
These archaeological discoveries indicate that at least during the Han Dynasty, distillation technology had already existed in China, Wu said.
It sounds like the previous oldest sample of distilled alcohol they had was at a level more advanced technologically or methodically, so they knew there had to be older attempts of processing alcohol this way in the area, they just hadn’t recovered any. So they knew a find like this had to exist between discovered undistilled alcohol production and later more advanced distilled alcohol. they just hadn’t unearthed anything from that time period prior to this. So they have evidence before and after of alcohol production, this was them finding a missing link they knew had to exist somewhere.
I didn’t think you guys would be so much interested in the alcohol or archaeology itself in this community or I would have commented on it more originally. I’m kinda surprised this post is getting liked as much as it is. The art stuff isn’t usually too popular here. I hope this elaboration answers your concerns though! I’m always happy when you guys ask questions…and when I feel I can adequately answer them!
Alcohol production and distillation aren’t the same. I can safely make beer at home. I cannot safely make vodka at home. That being said the other lab testing it determined the age how? It seems like they only determined it was liquor
Alcohol production and distillation aren’t the same.
That was the point of the article. This differentiation was the real discovery.
Previous discoveries have shown distilling equipment dating back possibly to 200 BC.
Han Dynasty distillation devices have been unearthed, including a Western Han (206BC-AD25) distillation device
The owl pot dates back to much 7longer ago than that previous oldest discovery.
the vessel dates back more than 3,000 years, to the Shang Dynasty period of 1600 to 1046 B.C.E
I can safely make beer at home. I cannot safely make vodka at home.
I have done a bit of both, though distillation just once. Beer/wine are very easy and harder to mess up than one would initially think.
As to distilling, this come up on homebrew communities a lot, as many are intimidated to try it due to this fear. I will share their experience, along with my own. The people who do this regularly say the actual danger is low if you are distilling stuff you plan to drink yourself. The low alcohol beverages meant for consumption (fruit/grain derived base alcohol) are very low in compounds that end up producing methanol when distilled. All distilled product will have some degree of these chemicals, but in the amount you would drink and survive the amount of ethanol consumed, the byproduct levels are pretty insignificant in comparison.
Methanol scares are the result of 2 different things. Both are intentional acts. First is distilling a spirit made from a questionable mash. Many things can be fermented into alcohols. I forget the part of plant matter that breaks down into methanol, but using wood to produce the alcohol and other non-fruit/vegetable parts of plants produce much more methanol. Someone cheaping out on supplies could stretch a batch using low grade fermentable material.- The second way people got methanol poisoning was intentional poisoning of ethanol with methanol during Prohibition to discourage bootlegging. Drinkable spirit was intentionally poisoned with methanol.
From my experience distilling with a self described redneck who does it regularly, we tasted drops of the early and late distillate to determine when to start and stop collection of the batch we were making instead of doing it any form of scientific or professional way. The tail end wasn’t bad. That is when the heat starts to rise too much, and it pulls the last bits of ethanol out of the mash and more and more water, so when it starts to taste like watered down spirit, you stop distillation. This was not so bad, as it just tasted like too much ice melting into a drink. The heads, at the beginning of distillation, were something else entirely!
There is no way you will mistake that stuff for ethanol! The early distillate has all the nasties in it. The methanol, acetone, and I’m sure a number of other things you don’t want to consume in quantity. First, the smell alone tells you it is not what you want to drink. It smells awful. As it got closer to the heat level to draw up the ethanol, we would taste a drop from a spoon. Again, immediately you knew if you were getting too much non-ethanol product, and from the few drops I had, my body knew it was not something I wanted more of. A few moments later, it tasted like quality spirit and it was a night and day difference. from what was running out of the end a moment before.
That being said the other lab testing it determined the age how?
This seems to have been determined by the archaeologists dating the tomb and its contents, not the lab dating the booze. The lab seems to have just ruled out environmental contamination, say of water evaporating from a non-stilled spirit or being removed in another way like ice distilling, where a spirit is frozen, and when the ice is removed, you are left with the non-frozen and now concentrated alcohol.
It seems like they only determined it was liquor
Residue that would indicate the vessel contained a non-distilled product was not found. This shows it was distilled before being placed into the vessel. The lack of contaminants in the alcohol, the sealed nature of the container when found, and the dating of the tomb all go together to show distillation was being done in China earlier than the Han dynasty, which was the oldest previously discovered distillation material. They knew that it was older, but this is them finding their smoking gun to prove it.
Fruit wine and rice wine only undergo fermentation without distillation, leaving behind substances such as sugars and proteins that will not completely degrade even if buried for a long time. The remaining liquid in this copper owl jar has been stored in a closed anaerobic environment for a long time. After identification, it was found that only water, ethanol, ethyl acetate and other components were used to make the liquor, which was distilled.
Ok and how have they determined the vessel wasn’t placed in the tomb later? We know it is inaccessible now but that might not have always been true. If the 3000 year date is because the tomb is that old that doesn’t mean the contents are.
Im cautious with these statements because many nations including China like to claim they are the first to do something and oftentimes that’s not entirely the case such as the claim that the oldest wine is Chinese when it is really a beer.
If the concern is potential Chinese propaganda, that I can’t prove or disprove for you. I thought you were having an issue with the things I was pointing out from the articles available. All I can say is that I didn’t see any claims that the Chinese were the first to do it necessarily, just that this was the oldest evidence of distillation in China. The actual contents were secondary to me in sharing the story, I just liked the cute owl jar. There was no greater agenda on my part than that.
Accuracy of the claim more than propaganda. I work in the liquor industry so this is the kind if trivia that is interesting to me.
Gotcha, this is making some more sense to me now with that context.
Any idea what the oldest distillate is thought to be? Google showed me a few things like poitin from 600AD. I’ve never heard of that stuff, but I’ve also never looked before. 😅
how long does it take bronze to rust?
There are many materials called bronze. Being primarily copper and mixed with tin is the only given with bronze, otherwise they’d call it something else. Google tells me Chinese bronze of this time had a good bit of lead in it as well. From the details I added in the longer reply here, it sounds like the tomb was submerged, so the seal from rust/oxidation likely happened quickly, especially if the pH of the water was much off of neutral. But those are way more archaeological/metallurgical/geological things than I think I can attempt to answer.
It’s an excellent answer! :)
I’ll always give you the best one I can!
Calgon???
Can’t lie. First thought.
we know we’ve dated ourselves, but they don’t
I’m lost. 😅
I think I get it from looking it up, but I’m not sure there’s a specific ad or something that makes it extra funny.
Like, three times an hour. You’d quote it at school and everyone would laugh. A television meme, if you will.
I knew the saying but not the source so now it all makes sense! I wasn’t sure of the appropriateness when I made the post, so I mixed it up a little to be safe. My first thoughts were along the lines of After 3000 Years, Owl Reveals Ancient Chinese Secret.
“We need more distilled liqour!”
. . . ‘Ancient Chinese Secret’, huh? ;)
Thank you! This is actually the line that came into my head making the title, but since I didn’t know the original source, I wasn’t sure where it fell on the racist barometer, so I changed it up to be safe! I’ve heard the line referenced many times over the years but I don’t recall this commercial, but I was a toddler at the time this came out. TIL
Major Briggs knew it all along
Also, this vessel was made with copper which is just one letter off from Cooper.
Something like that cannot be written off as mere coincidence!
Aliens wanted to intiate Coop into their lodge?
Anything’s possible in that universe!
Was spirit unearth or vinegar?
unearth or vinegar?
I’m not sure what word you were looking to use here. If you were asking if it was still in good condition or had turned to vinegar, it sounded like it still had at least close to its original high alcohol content, so the vinegar bacteria would have been unable to grow in it. There may have been some lead (Plomb) in it from the container, so probably not the best idea to drink it.
I would still be tempted if it did not smell terrible, but that’s just me being foolish. 😅
If I didn’t get your question right, let me know!
unearthed
It is used in the article. I was sure I was using it right… :(
Was spirit unearthed ? No, you can’t use a double mark of past tense. Or maybe I’m wrong…
My next best guess is this was a joke:
Was a spirit (revenant / fantôme / spectre) unearthed or was it vinegar?
I’m shocked it’s taken us this long to reach something we’re confused about considering some of the niche topics that get discussed here. 😁
It’s crazy right? We talk about the Anatomy of owls, discussing different eye lids and the composition of the feather but a six-words sentence got us confused!
Did I get it right the second time?
I honestly don’t understand what you even meant this time (T_T)
Lol we’ll do better next time! 😖
Neat!
I’m happily surprised to see all the interest this story is getting. I’m glad you liked it!
