Scientists uncover an ancient brewery



CHICAGO (AP) -- Here's an archaeological discovery that the average guy at the end of the bar can appreciate: an ancient brewery.
A team of scientists from Chicago's Field Museum in July uncovered a brewery in the mountains of southern Peru where members of the Wari Empire made an alcoholic beerlike drink called chicha more than 1,000 years ago.
It wasn't just a mom-and-pop operation, but something that could deliver the goods when dozens, if not hundreds, of Wari decided it was chicha time.
The brewery may be the oldest large-scale facility of its kind ever found in the Andes and predates the Inca Empire by at least four centuries, said Patrick Ryan Williams of the museum.
Scientists have long known the Wari made the spicy drink, but nothing on the scale of the brewery they just found.
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