World’s earliest evidence of wine-making found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

World’s earliest evidence of wine-making found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia

Agence France-Presse, Miami | By
Nov 14, 2017 10:39 AM IST

Wine-making as a tradition turns out to be older by almost 1,000 than previously thought. The world’s earliest evidence of grape wine-making has been detected in 8,000-year-old pottery jars unearthed in Georgia.

Before, the oldest chemical evidence of wine in the Near East dated to 5,400-5,000 BC (about 7,000 years ago) and was from the Zagros Mountains of Iran, said the report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer-reviewed US journal. The world’s very first wine is thought to have been made from rice in China around 9,000 years ago.

The world’s very first wine is thought to have been made from rice in China around 9,000 years ago.(Shutterstock)
The world’s very first wine is thought to have been made from rice in China around 9,000 years ago.(Shutterstock)

“We believe this is the oldest example of the domestication of a wild-growing Eurasian grapevine solely for the production of wine,” said co-author Stephen Batiuk, a senior research associate at the University of Toronto. Scientists on the team came from the United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Israel and Georgia. They have been working for the past four years to re-analyse archeological sites that were found decades ago. The fragments of ceramic casks, some decorated with grape motifs and able to hold up to 80 gallons (300 liters), were found at two archeological sites called Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

A neolithic jar from Khramis Didi-Gora, Georgia. (AFP/Georgian National Museum)
A neolithic jar from Khramis Didi-Gora, Georgia. (AFP/Georgian National Museum)

Researchers used a combination of the latest mass spectrometry and chromatography techniques to identify the ancient compounds. This chemical analysis “confirmed tartaric acid, the fingerprint compound for grape and wine,” said the PNAS report. Researchers also found three associated organic acids -- malic, succinic and citric -- in the residue from the eight jars. This “discovery dates the origin of the practice to the Neolithic period around 6,000 BC, pushing it back 600-1,000 years from the previously accepted date,” according to the study.

The Neolithic period began around 15,200 BC in parts of the Middle East and ended between 4,500 and 2,000 BC. During this era, the latter part of which coincided with the Stone Age, people were beginning to farm, domesticate animals, make polished stone tools, crafts and weaving, researchers said. “Pottery, which was ideal for processing, serving and storing fermented beverages, was invented in this period together with many advances in art, technology and cuisine,” said Batiuk.

“As a medicine, social lubricant, mind-altering substance, and highly-valued commodity, wine became the focus of religious cults, pharmacopeias, cuisines, economics, and society throughout the ancient Near East,” he said. People in Georgia cultivated the Eurasian grapevine, Vitis vinifera, which likely grew abundantly under environmental conditions similar to modern-day France and Italy. Batiuk said the domestication of the grape “eventually led to the emergence of a wine culture in the region. The Eurasian grapevine that now accounts for 99.9% of wine made in the world today, has its roots in Caucasia.”

But this might not be the last word, according to lead author Patrick McGovern, scientific director of the biomolecular archeology project for cuisine, fermented beverages, and health at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia. McGovern, who co-authored the 1996 Nature study that placed the earliest evidence for grape wine in Iran, said the search for the truly oldest artifacts will continue. “Other sites in the South Caucasus in Armenia and Azerbaijan might eventually produce even earlier evidence for viniculture than Georgia,” McGovern said. “The Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey are also a prime candidate for further exploration with its monumental sites at Gobekli Tepe and Nevali Cori at the headwaters of the Tigris River,” dating as far back as 9,500 BC.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more

Explore the art deco structures of Mumbai through a heritage walk with HT! Participate now.

Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On