Archaeologists from Israel, Germany and the United States have found the evidence of beer consumption in northeastern Israel some 7,200 years ago, the University of Haifa (UH) in northern Israel said on Tuesday.

It was found in the pre-historic site Tel Tsaf, in northeastern Israel, where a 7,200-year-old thriving Chalcolithic settlement with hundreds of residents existed. It was one of only a few settlements in the region at the time, in a period of transition from small agricultural societies to large urban ones, said the university.

"Tel Tsaf was a wealthy village, with a large-scale agricultural production, and now the new evidence shows production and consumption of alcohol as well, with grain-made beer," the researchers noted.

In their microscopic study, the researchers examined starch grains of wheat and barley, found in pottery vessels that included strainers. It was found that the grains underwent a molecular change in the fermentation process.

Earlier evidence of beer consumption was found in 2014 at a Natufian burial site in a cave on Mount Carmel in northwestern Israel, from about 14,000 years ago, where beer was used in burial ceremonies. 

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