PREHISTORY The discovery of wine, early winemaking,

early viticulture, the use of wine in ‘primitive’ societies, the development of wine styles.

By Huw Kinch 2013000551

SO WHERE DID IT ALL START?

• The first wine was probably made by accident.• Wild grapes collected for eating which were left

for a few days, would of started to ferment due to the natural yeasts on the grape skins producing wine!

Earliest Evidence of Wine Production

• Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from grapes; and depending on your definition of "made from grapes" there are at least two independent inventions of the lovely stuff.

(Hirst)

Chinese wines

• The oldest known possible evidence for the use of grapes as part of a wine recipe with fermented rice and honey was in China, about 9,000 years ago

• Residues on pottery sherds from the Chinese early Neolithic site of Jiahu have been recognized as coming from a fermented beverage made of a mixture of rice, honey and fruit, radiocarbon dated to ~7000-6600 BC.

(Hirst)

brick showing wine making in ancient China (Hays, 2011)

Hajji Firuz, Iran• The earliest chemically attested grape wine in the

world was discovered at Hajji Firuz in the northwestern Zagros Mountains of Iran, ca. 5400 B.C. (Early Neolithic Period).

• Six jars of the same shape, each with a volume of about 9 liters.

(McGovern)

Wine among ancient Persians www.geocities.ws

• Analyses of the two jars in the Penn Museum showed that they had contained a resinated wine or “retsina,” i.e., with terebinth tree or pine resin added as a preservative and medical agent. There was a red to go with the white wine, based on the colors of the residues.

(McGovern)

The oldest known grape wine, from Iran | Mathilda's Anthropology Blog.mathildasanthropologyblog.wordpress.com

Patrick McGovernhttp://www.getty.edu/museum/programs/lectures/images/patrick_mcgovern.jpg

Intentional wine-making

• Intentional wine-making is believed to have begun in the Neolithic period (from about 9500 to 6000 B.C.) when communities settled in year-round settlements and began intentionally crushing and fermenting grapes and tending a grape crop year round.

• This is believed to have first occurred in Transcaucasus, eastern Turkey or northwestern Iran.

(Hays, 2011)

Earliest Known Winery Found in Armenian Cave

• Near the village of Areni, in the same cave where a stunningly preserved, 5,500-year-old leather moccasin was recently found, archaeologists have unearthed a wine press for stomping grapes, fermentation and storage vessels, drinking cups, and withered grape vines, skins, and seeds.

(Owen, 2011)

• The prehistoric winemaking equipment was first detected in 2007, when excavations co-directed by Areshian and Armenian archaeologist Boris Gasparyan began at the Areni-1 cave complex.

• In September 2010 archaeologists completed excavations of a large, 2-foot-deep (60-centimeter-deep) vat buried next to a shallow, 3.5-foot-long (1-meter-long) basin made of hard-packed clay with elevated edges.

(Owen, 2011)

An apparent wine press (in front of sign) and fermentation vat (right) emerge during a dig in

Armenia

Photograph courtesy Gregory Areshian

Vitis Vinifera

•  The European grape is Vitis vinifera, it is the main grape used in modern day wine production.

• In Europe and Western Asia, where V. vinifera has been cultivated for centuries, wild vines also occur.

Wild Vines vs Cultivated Vines

• One school of thought is the wild vines (Vitis silvestris) are ancestors of the cultivated vines but now distinct from them.

• The other view is that the wild vines are simply the spontaneous form of V. vinifera, the differences between the wild and cultivated vines being merely the effect of domestication.

(Antcliff, 2003)

History of Viticulture• Cultivation began during Neolithic era (6000-6500

BC).

• 4000 BC viticulture extends from Transcaucasia to Asia Minor, through Fertile Crescent to the Nile Delta.

• By 1700 BC King Hammurabi of Babylon establishes rules of wine trade.

(Kurtural)

Egyptians and wine• Whenever it first appeared, by 3000 BC, wine was

well-known in several areas, notably Egypt. As far as we know, the Egyptians developed the first recorded techniques for pruning and training vines, they classed wines based on quality, and they stored the wine in earthen jars that they buried in the earth, presumably for temperature control.

(gregt, 2009)

2.JPG www.arabworldbooks.com

Egyptians and wine cont.

• Between 3000 and 2700 B.C. the Egyptians were marketing wines in amphorae with labels that indicated the year, the contents, where it was produced, the owner of the vineyard and the quality with the best being rated as “very, very good.” (Hays, 2011)

http://diversluck.blogspot.co.nz/2010/07/how-ancient-egyptians-made-wine.html figure 1

Greeks and Wine!• Wine has been an important part of Greek culture

for over 4000 years• For the ancient Greeks the culture of wine was

embodied in the deity, Dionyssus.• The Ancient Greeks loved to organize intellectual

gatherings called "symposia" where they would eat and talk about predetermined philosophical subjects while drinking wine.

(Greek wine)

http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html

The island of Crete• The first traces of wine production in Greece were

found on the island of Crete, in the middle of the 3rd century BC.

• Several clay wine presses, wine cups, amphorae and wine seeds were discovered throughout the island of Crete and brought to light the important role that wine has played in Greek culture since these ancient times.

(Greek wine)

http://www.paleologos.gr/exploring-greece/crete-island/individual-vacation/

Greece wine trade• The Greeks traded their wines throughout the

ancient world by ship inside sealed amphorae.• Wine was a valuable commercial product used to

barter for needed metals, leather and even slaves.

• The Greek wine trade was organized and sophisticated and was one of the methods the Greeks used to spread their culture throughout the ancient world.

(Greek wine)

http://www.greek-food.ws/santorini/santorini-wine

Spreading the knowledge

• The Greeks introduced winemaking techniques to their colonies in Italy and Sicily around the 8th century BC and later in France and Spain.

• During the "Golden Age" of Greece, circa 500-300BC, when Athens ruled the ancient world, the wine trade continued to expand in importance spreading into Northern Europe and the areas surrounding the Black Sea.

(Greek Wine)

History of Wine | Italywww.lifeinitaly.com

The Romans• As Roman civilisation progressed and changed so

too did their use and consumption of wine.• The Romans brought the grapevine with them as

they created the Roman empire.• Initially we can imagine a beverage of moderate

consumption, used in a pastoral context as a supplement to nutrition if available and perhaps restricted to religious ceremonies such as sacrifices and funerals. (Ancient Roman Wine)

Wine in History | Vine Talk www.vinetalk.com

Wine as part of Roman society

• The broadening social use of wine as a beverage reached the greatest heights and finesse, not only in terms of variety and uses (eg cooking) but also in terms of the social and cultural connotations.

• It permeated every sector of life, very much as it does today.

• They understood that not all wine is the same.(Ancient Roman Wine)

Classification of Roman wine

• 1-wine produced locally in small batches for local consumption.

• 2-high quality wine of prestige which could be aged and sold to the elite.

• 3-low quality high volume wine for more or less immediate consumption in the pubs, known as "cauponae", traded internationally for mass consumption. (Ancient Roman Wine)

Wine Styles• In much of the ancient world, sweet white wine

was the most highly regarded style. Wines were often very alcoholic, with Pliny noting that a cup of Falernian would catch fire from a candle flame drawn too close. Wine was often diluted with warm water, occasionally seawater.

• The ability to age was a desirable trait in Roman wines, with mature examples from older vintages fetching higher prices than that from the current vintage, regardless of its overall quality.

(From Wikipedia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome_and_wine#Wine_styles Pliny the Elder

Wine Styles cont.• In the manner of Greek wine, Roman wine was

often flavored with herbs and spices (similar to modern vermouth and mulled wine) and was sometimes stored in resin-coated containers, giving it a flavor similar to modern retsina.

• Romans were particularly interested in the aroma of wine and experimented with various methods of enhancing a wine's bouquet.

(From Wikipedia)

A simple Greek meal with retsina wine | The Man from Mosel Riverthemanfrommoselriver.com

Conclusion• Wine made solely from grapes orginated in

Transcaucasus, eastern Turkey or northwestern Iran around 6000-7000 B.C. (Early Neolithic Period).

• Cultivation began during Neolithic era (6000-6500 BC).

• 4000 BC viticulture extends from Transcaucasia to Asia Minor, through Fertile Crescent to the Nile Delta.

• Wine was an important part of the Egyptian, Greek and Roman societies.

Conclusion cont.• The spread of the grapevine through out Europe

by the Greeks and Romans has help create some of the great vineyards we cherish today.

• Wine infiltrated ancient societies and is still an important part of modern society.

Biliography

• All about Greek wine website History. (n.d.). Retrieved August 4, 2013, from All about Greek wine website: http://www.allaboutgreekwine.com/history.htm

• Ancient Roman Wine. (n.d.). Retrieved August 4, 2013, from http://www.mariamilani.com: http://www.mariamilani.com/ancient_rome/Ancient%20Roman%20wine.htm

• Antcliff, A. (2003). Taxonomy. In B. C. Dry, Viticulture Volume 1 Resoures (pp. 112-114). Adelaide: Wine titles.

Biliography cont.

• Hays, J. (2011, March). FIRST WINE, WINERY, BEER AND BREAD. Retrieved August 4, 2013, from Facts and Details website: http://factsanddetails.com/world.php?itemid=1563&catid=54&subcatid=347

• Hirst, K. K. (n.d.). Wine and its Origins. Retrieved August 4, 2013, from About.com: http://archaeology.about.com/od/wterms/qt/wine.htm

• Kurtural, D. S. (n.d.). A Brief History of the Grape and it Uses. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CDBREC/history&uses.pdf

Biliography cont.

• McGovern, P. E. (n.d.). Grape Wine. Retrieved August 4, 2013, from Patrick E. McGovern Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory: http://www.penn.museum/sites/biomoleculararchaeology/?page_id=82

• Owen, J. (2011, January 10). National Geographic Daily News. Retrieved August 4, 2013, from National Geographic website: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110111-oldest-wine-press-making-winery-armenia-science-ucla

Biliography cont.

• From Wikipedia, t. f. (n.d.). Ancient Rome and wine From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 15, 2013, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Rome_and_wine#Wine_styles

• Gregt. (2009, October 5). 1. A brief history of wine. Retrieved August 11, 2013, from A History of Wine Snooth: http://www.snooth.com/articles/a-history-of-wine/