Archaeologists opened a 2,300-year-old bronze bottle in China—it still contained beer with more than 2,400 compounds, revealing a recipe never recorded in historical texts

A sealed bronze bottle buried for more than 2,300 years stunned archaeologists in China. The ancient bottle gave them an extraordinary look into how people brewed, stored and even buried alcoholic drinks during one of ancient China's most important periods.

While excavating a tomb at the Shanjiabo cemetery in China, researchers uncovered a tightly sealed bronze vessel that still contained liquid after more than two millennia underground. Instead of drying up or becoming contaminated, the contents remained preserved well enough for scientists to analyze.