Alcohol may have done more than just fuel celebrations in ancient societies. A study led by Václav Hrnčíř from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology suggests that indigenous fermented drinks helped ancient societies grow in size and complexity.

The study, published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, draws a link between alcohol and the rise of structured governance.

Researchers analyzed data from 186 traditional societies worldwide. They found that communities producing their own alcoholic drinks, like fruit wines or cereal beers, often showed higher levels of political organization.

The team focused on societies that existed before industrialization and widespread colonial influence, ensuring that the alcohol used was locally made and not introduced by outside cultures.

Fermented drinks linked to complex political structures

The link between alcohol and political complexity held up even when researchers accounted for other possible explanations, such as farming, environment, and shared ancestry. While the effect was modest, it was consistent.

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Societies with native alcohol traditions were more likely to have layered political systems, meaning they had organized leadership beyond simple village groups.

The researchers tested the so-called “drunk” hypothesis, which argues that alcohol helped people cooperate on a large scale. Drinking lowered social barriers and boosted group bonding, especially during communal feasts.

These gatherings weren’t just about pleasure. They helped form alliances, mobilize labor, and reinforce social roles. Leaders often used alcohol to reward loyalty and strengthen their power.

New dataset focuses on pre-industrial societies

To test this idea, Hrnčíř and his team built a new dataset. Since existing cross-cultural databases lacked detailed information on alcohol, the researchers reviewed ethnographic sources to document where indigenous drinks were present.

They focused on non-distilled fermented beverages, which have a lower alcohol content and fewer harmful effects than modern liquors.

Using Bayesian statistical models, the team measured how much alcohol influenced political development. In the simplest models, the presence of alcohol showed a strong link to higher political organization.

But when they included other variables—especially agriculture—the alcohol effect became smaller. Farming clearly played a larger role in shaping early societies, but alcohol still appeared to give cooperation a social boost.

Agriculture played a stronger role, but alcohol still mattered

The study’s findings suggest that alcohol helped make early state formation easier, though it wasn’t the sole driver. It offered a social “glue” that made it easier for people to live and work together in bigger groups. In some places, the need for alcohol may have even encouraged the first efforts at farming.

But alcohol had its limits. The effects were weaker in models that considered farming and the environment. Still, researchers found that fermented drinks were more common in complex societies than in simpler ones. Alcohol, then, may have been one of several tools—along with agriculture, religion, and trade—that supported the growth of civilization.

Despite the positive group effects, the study notes that alcohol could also spark conflict. In some societies, drinking parties often ended in arguments. Yet in well-integrated cultures, social drinking usually took place during rituals, feasts, or after work. It wasn’t seen as a problem unless drinking became solitary or excessive.

Abdul Moeed, Greek Reporter