Cask from the past: archaeologists discover 5,000-year-old beer recipe

Chinese find suggests barley was used for booze before being grown for food - and that beer could have played a role in the development of society

Chinese villagers could have been raising a pint 5,000 years ago, according to new research.

Archaeologists studying vessels unearthed in the Shaanxi province of China say they've uncovered beer-making equipment dating from between 3400 and 2900 BC - an era known as the late Yangshao period - and figured out the recipe to boot.