The fermented grapes date back to the fourth millennium BC, some 3,000 years earlier than the first traces of viticulture previously recorded in Italy. - AFP Photo
A
team of researchers studied residue in terracotta jars found in a cave on Mount
Kronio near Agrigento, Italy. The site was "probably a holy site where
offerings were made to the gods", Enrico Greco, a chemist at the
University of Catania, said.
"The
fact that the jars were found in a cave saved them from being buried and
allowed the contents to be preserved, even though it has solidified over the
centuries," Greco said.
Several
analysis techniques, including nuclear magnetic resonance, revealed the
presence of tartaric acid, the primary acid in grapes.
"We
ruled out fatty residues from meat or oil, and as there were no traces of grape
seeds or skins, we concluded it was from fermented grapes," he said.
The
archaeologists then dated the residue by comparing the pottery with other vases
from nearby sites.
The
finding is significant as it dates the fermented grapes back to the fourth
millennium BC, some 3,000 years earlier than the first traces of viticulture
previously recorded in Italy.
"When
we published our article, we did not imagine it could be the oldest wine ever
discovered, but the information has led us to believe this may be the
case," Greco said.
He
was part of an international group of researchers led by Davide Tanasi, an
archaeologist from the University of South Florida who made the discovery,
which was published in the Microchemical Journal.
As
to whether it is the oldest wine in the world, the scientists remain cautious.
"There
have been discoveries from the same period in Armenia, but it seems to have
been a drink produced from fermenting pomegranate, not grapes," Greco
said, adding: "There are also older signs of rice fermentation in
China."
By AFP