Drinking an ancient type of beer could have been the key to why the Wari Empire lasted for so long, giving rise to the Inca Empire.
A study of drinking vessels used by the ancient civilisation 1,000 years ago show how the kingdom, which stretched across Peru, remained intact.
The Wari Empire lasted for 500 years, from 600 to 1100 AD, a relatively long time, before eventually giving rise to the Inca Empire.
Archaeologists studying remnants of the Wari kingdom, including a brewery which was reduced to ashes after its collapse, wanted to know why it lasted so long.
Their findings showed that an important factor may have been having a steady supply of a beer, known as chicha, fermented from corn and pepper berries.
The brewing and then serving of the beer formed a unity among these different Peruvian communities, which 'kept people together', they said.
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Drinking an ancient type of beer could have been the key to why the Wari Empire, which gave rise to the Inca Empire, lasted for so long. Experts team worked with Peruvian brewers to recreate the ancient chicha recipe used at Cerro Baul
The Wari civilisation flourished in the coastal and highland areas of ancient Peru between c. 450 and c. 1000 CE.
Based at their capital Huari, now central Peru, the Waris successfully exploited the diverse landscapes they controlled to construct an empire administered by provincial capitals connected by a large road network.
Their methods of maintaining an empire and artistic style would have a significant influence on the later Inca civilisation.
'This study helps us understand how beer fed the creation of complex political organisations,' said Ryan Williams, associate curator of the Field Museum of Natural History.
'We were able to apply new technologies to capture information about how ancient beer was produced and what it meant to societies in the past,' he said.
Nearly twenty years ago, the team discovered an ancient Wari brewery in Cerro Baúl in the mountains of southern Peru.
Archaeologists found broken vessels in this 'rare time capsule' after excavating it over the last two decades.
The researchers analysed pieces of ceramic beer vessels from Cerro Baúl using techniques which involved removing tiny pieces of material and heating them so that the molecules break down.
This told them where the clay came from, which was found to be locally sourced, and what the beer was made of. They then recreated the brewing process themselves.
The key, the researchers found, was the fact that they brewed the beer in their own breweries and used these pepper berries because they could survive droughts.
The Wari empire
