Humans Have Been Making Wine For At Least 8,000 Years, New Study Reveals
- 6 years ago
Humans have been making wine for at least 8,000, a new study suggests.
Researchers are shedding more light on when humans started making wine.
A University of Toronto press release notes that as part of a joint expedition between the university and the Georgian National Museum, archaeologists "have uncovered evidence of the earliest winemaking anywhere in the world."
"The 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," the release further explains.
Prior to the new research, a region in Iran's Zagros Mountains was believed to have the earliest evidence of wine, dating back around 7,000 years.
The recent study focused on excavations in the Republic of Georgia, about 35 miles south of the current capital Tbilisi, in sites called Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora.
"Pottery fragments of ceramic jars recovered from the sites were collected and subsequently analyzed by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania to ascertain the nature of the residue preserved inside for several millennia," the news statement notes. "The newest methods of chemical extraction confirmed tartaric acid, the fingerprint compound for grape and wine as well as three associated organic acids - malic, succinic and citric - in the residue recovered from eight large jars."
Findings from the study are published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.'
Researchers are shedding more light on when humans started making wine.
A University of Toronto press release notes that as part of a joint expedition between the university and the Georgian National Museum, archaeologists "have uncovered evidence of the earliest winemaking anywhere in the world."
"The 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," the release further explains.
Prior to the new research, a region in Iran's Zagros Mountains was believed to have the earliest evidence of wine, dating back around 7,000 years.
The recent study focused on excavations in the Republic of Georgia, about 35 miles south of the current capital Tbilisi, in sites called Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora.
"Pottery fragments of ceramic jars recovered from the sites were collected and subsequently analyzed by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania to ascertain the nature of the residue preserved inside for several millennia," the news statement notes. "The newest methods of chemical extraction confirmed tartaric acid, the fingerprint compound for grape and wine as well as three associated organic acids - malic, succinic and citric - in the residue recovered from eight large jars."
Findings from the study are published in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.'