Graves in China hold many surprises. Just last week, an archeology team reported that they had discovered traces of an anesthetic used in surgeries while closely analyzing the tools of a doctor buried over 600 years ago. This would be the earliest evidence of anesthetic in human history, apart from the use of alcohol, for the systematic production of which there is evidence dating back 12,000 years. “Beer” – or rather, a brew made from fermented grain – was invented practically at the same time as modern agriculture.
