In recent years it has become well known that the oldest wine-making traditions can be found in Georgia. In fact, the first thing you read when searching for ”History of wine” is a Wikipedia description that says that: “Wine has been produced for thousands of years, with evidence of ancient wine production in Georgia from c. 6000 BC (the earliest known traces of wine)”. It’s great that these findings have reached so many people, but how did we find that people were producing wine at the territory of modern Georgia?
In this article we try to break down the question by first describing how these findings came about, the location of the findings, as well as the scientific methods that were used to analyze the artifacts. We also describe how the findings go beyond viticulture and wine traditions – connected to our civilization.
How did archaeologists discover the early artifacts of Georgian wine?
The answer to this question can be found in a publication in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) from 2017. In this study it was conclusively shown that certain ceramic artifacts were discovered only 20 miles south of Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia). The international team of scientists, headed by Prof. David Lordkipanidze, the Director of Georgian National Museum, discovered the remains of ceramic jar with the grape decorations. After several chemical analyses, the jars had traces of ancient organic compounds, which were absorbed in fragments of the pottery.
The earliest traces for viniculture in Georgia
The finding proved to be the earliest biomolecular archaeological evidence for grape wine and viniculture. However, we often want to know the details behind the findings and how we can be certain that they are true. At the University of Pennsylvania, scientist revealed tartaric acid, a chemical “fingerprint” that showed wine residues. The chemical findings were corroborated by climatic and environmental reconstruction, together with archaeobotanical evidence, including grape pollen, and starch. The radiocarbon dating revealed the age of the residue to be around 6 000 B.C. and can be dated to the early Neolithic period when prehistoric humans were still using stone and bone tools.
The findings also showed that vine was grown nearby
At the excavation, archeologists didn’t find many grape seeds or stems preserved in the soil of excavation site and therefore they believe that the wine was made in the nearby hills, close to where the grapes were grown. During later period of wine making. pine resin or herbs were used to prevent wine from spoiling or cover up unpleasant tastes, the same way modern wine producers use sulfites. The chemical analysis of jar surface didn’t find any such residues from the samples obtained in Georgia, suggesting that at that time the wine was a pure and seasonal drink, produced and consumed before it had a chance to turn vinegary.
Some of the earliest pottery made in the near east
Furthermore, the very large-capacity jars that were found, are now considered to be some of the earliest pottery made in the Near East. Back then, they probably served as vessels for fermentation, as well as for aging, and serving wine. These large and open-mouthed pottery vessels are similar in shape to ”qvevri”, traditional winemaking vessels still widely used in Georgia for making amber wine by traditional Georgian technology.
Going beyond viticulture and wine consumption
In an article published in the National Geographic, Stanford University archaeologist Patric Hunt says: ”The results show that Stone Age people lived complex, rich lives, with interests and concerns we’d be familiar with today. Wine fermentation isn’t a survival necessity. It shows that human beings back then were about more than utilitarian activity”. According to Hunt “There’s far greater sophistication even in the transitional Neolithic than we had any clue about.”
Wine is central to civilisation as we know it in the West
“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 researcher at the University of Toronto in his interview to BBC. “Wine is central to civilisation as we know it in the West. As a medicine, social lubricant, mind-altering substance and highly valued commodity, wine became the focus of religious cults, pharmacopoeias, cuisines, economies and society in the ancient Near East.”
