Skip to main content

Earliest winemaking traced back 8,000 years to Georgia

Earliest winemaking traced back 8,000 years to Georgia


A neolithic jar from Khramis Didi-Gora, Georgia.

Story highlights

  • Neolithic pottery shards were found to contain grape wine residue
  • Expert: "The human relationship with wine has a truly deep history"
The earliest evidence of winemaking has been traced back 8,000 years to Georgia by an international team of scientists.
Neolithic pottery shards were found to contain grape wine residue from 6000-5800 B.C., almost 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
"As a Georgian, we always believed that wine came from Georgia, but now we have scientific evidence from natural science and archaeology to prove it," said David Lordkipanidze, director of the Georgian National Museum and co-author of the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The new discovery reinforces the established and well preserved culture of wine in the country.
"We have an uninterrupted history of wine in Georgia -- the jars found in the Neolithic period are similar to the vessels we still use today," said Lordkipanidze.
The team analyzed 18 shards from pottery jars uncovered in recent years from multiple sites across Georgia, as well as samples from a 1960 excavation.
The shards tested positive for tartaric acid, which gives wine its tart flavor, and were dated to the early Neolithic period, 6000-5000 B.C. They also contained samples of grape pollen.
"This early Neolithic date is quite surprising. The Caucasus has been proposed as a key area for domestication by Soviet archaeologists already ... there have been claims that grains were actually domesticated for beer making, but nobody yet guessed at the high antiquity of wine," added Ulrike Sommer, senior lecturer at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, who was not involved in the new study.
The research team believes the jars were most likely used for all three stages of winemaking -- fermentation, aging and serving.
The three-year research project was funded by the National Wine Agency of Georgia.
"This study proves that the human relationship with wine has a truly deep history, rivaling our long-term experimentation with beer," said Augusta McMahon, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the new study.
Viniculture, the practice of making wine, was a crucial step in the process of human evolution, inextricably linked to the development of agriculture. The earliest samples illustrate human ingenuity in developing methods to press and preserve extracts, the study states.
Earlier this year, in August, researchers found traces of 6,000-year-old wine on ancient pottery recovered from a Sicilian cave, rewriting the history of wine-making on the Italian peninsula.
The cave was used from prehistory to Classical times as a site for religious rituals, with the wine possibly offered to underground deities, said Davide Tanasi of the University of South Florida, who led that research.
Follow CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter
See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.
Prior to this, the earliest evidence for grape wine in the Near East (Western Asia and the Middle East) was found in Iran, near the Zagros Mountains, dating to 5400-5000 B.C.
But the new findings push the date of origin back further.
Wine, as a drink, has historically played a dominant role in culture -- first as medicine, then in rituals and traditions, now consumed as a much-loved indulgence.
"This will surely resonate with anyone who now makes wine in their shed or brews beer in their garage," said McMahon.

Comments

TRENDING

Stormy Daniels seeks Trump testimony on her sex claims

How to prepare Menemen

Drinking Water Crisis in Rural Towns

How to make Mini Pumpkins Stuffed with Onion, Mushrooms, and Chard

How to prepare Seared Chicken Breast With Potatoes and Capers in 6 easy Steps

Popular Food To Eat in China |Cold Sesame Noodles

How to prepare Skillet Chicken With Black Beans, Rice and Chiles

New symptoms of omicron virus

Popular posts from this blog

Stormy Daniels seeks Trump testimony on her sex claims

New post Stormy Daniels seeks Trump testimony on her sex claims 25 minutes ago Share this with Facebook   Share this with Twitter   Share Media caption Stormy Daniels: 'I was threatened' Adult-film star Stormy Daniels has filed a court motion for US President Donald Trump to testify about her claim that they had a relationship. Her lawyer wants sworn testimony from Mr Trump about a "hush" agreement the actress says she signed. The attorney, Michael Avenatti, is also seeking a legal interview with the president's lawyer. Ms Daniels alleges she had unprotected sex with Mr Trump in 2006 a year after he married Melania Trump. He denies it. Mr Avenatti's motion, filed in a court in the Central District of California early on Wednesday, ramps up the legal duel between the porn star and the president. Should Trump be worried about Stormy Daniels? The president and the porn star: Why this matters Ex-model ...

How to prepare Menemen

 Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs With Tomato) Time :25 minutes Menemen, made from eggs, tomatoes, peppers and sometimes onions, is a distinctly Turkish breakfast comfort food. Although a year-round dish, it is especially pleasing in the summer, with really ripe tomatoes from the garden or farmer’s market. Be creative with this dish: Add shallots, chiles, fresh herbs or Aleppo pepper, or treat it as purists do, with only tomatoes and eggs. Cook slowly, stirring infrequently, until the eggs form billowy puffs. You can serve topped with feta cheese or lamb sausage, with any warm flatbread on the side. INGREDIENTS Yield : 4 servings 4tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1medium white onion (about 10 ounces), peeled and diced ½teaspoon dried oregano, plus more as needed ¼teaspoon Aleppo pepper, plus more as needed Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1mild but flavorful long green pepper (such as Turkish carliston, Hungarian banana or Anaheim), stemmed, halved lengthwise, seeded, ...

Drinking Water Crisis in Rural Towns

Drinking water is essential for life, but many rural towns in the U.S. are struggling to provide safe and reliable water to their residents. For decades, these towns have neglected their drinking water systems, resulting in aging infrastructure, water quality violations, and financial challenges. In this blog post, we will explore some of the causes and consequences of this crisis, and what can be done to address it. Causes of the Crisis One of the main causes of the crisis is the shrinking population of many rural towns. As people move to urban areas or other states, the tax base and the customer base of the water systems decline. This means less revenue to cover the costs of operation, maintenance, and improvement of the water systems. According to a report by the American Bar Association³, in 2015, 9 percent of all water systems had a documented violation of water quality standards, exposing 21 million people to unhealthy drinking water. These violations were more likely to occur in...

How to make Mini Pumpkins Stuffed with Onion, Mushrooms, and Chard

Mini Pumpkins Stuffed with Onion, Mushrooms, and Chard INGREDIENTS 4  (10 to 12-ounce) mini pumpkins, or 2 (1 1/2-pound) acorn squash 1 1/2  teaspoons  kosher salt, divided 8  ounces  fresh chanterelles or other wild mushrooms 1  medium yellow or white onion 1/2  bunch  Swiss chard (about 4 ounces) 1/2  bunch  fresh parsley 2  sprigs  fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 2  ounces  Comté or Swiss cheese 3  tablespoons  olive oil, divided 2  tablespoons  crème fraîche or sour cream 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper INSTRUCTIONS Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F. Cut the tops off 4 mini pumpkins (like a jack-o-lantern), or cut 2 acorn squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds and fibers. Place cut-side up in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Place the lids next to the pumpkins. Season the insides of the pumpkins with 1/4 teaspoon of the...