From this research I conclude that honey was the most likely catalyst that allowed controlled fermentation to commence at a very early date in Africa, with the weight of probability pointing to southern Africa.
The cognitive requirements necessary to support an understanding of chemical and technical processes (such as fermentation) are manifested in the last 100,000 years in the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa.
This tells us that honey and bee products were being used and consumed 40,000 years ago in southern Africa by people living at Border Cave, near the present Eswatini (Swaziland) border.
From this information it is reasonable to infer that controlled fermentation arose on the African continent alongside bow hunting and the use of poison tipped arrows, some time between 60,000 and 24,000 years ago.
Honey is the most likely catalyst that allowed controlled fermentation to commence at a very early date in Africa, with the weight of probability pointing to southern Africa, given current evidence.
