6,000-Year-Old Winemaking Site Discovered at Prehistoric Settlement in Greece, Process Leaves Experts Stunned
Researchers have uncovered the oldest samples of wine in Europe at a site in Northern Greece. The traces of wine were found in the prehistoric settlement of Dikili Tash, stated Greek Reporter. According to examinations, the wine was dated back to 4200 B.C. The evidence found in the area proves that Neolithic civilization also indulged in wine, something that experts were not aware of.
The site is located near the modern city of Kavala and according to experts had human habitation in the Neolithic period (6400-4000 BC) and the Bronze Age (3000-1100 B.C.). Greek and French archaeologists have been excavating the settlement in collaboration for the last ten years.
The name 'Dikili Tash' was given to the place in the Ottoman period and means “upright stone” in Turkish. It comes from a Roman funerary monument located in the ancient city of Philippi. The wine traces were excavated from a house in the settlement.
"During the excavations that took place in a house on the archaeological site, called House 1, quantities of carbonized grape berries that had been pressed were discovered in pots, a fact which proves the extraction of juice from grapes," Dimitra Malamidou, the archaeologist of the 17th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities and co-director of the excavations at Dikili Tash explained.
The finding has put into question the present knowledge among experts regarding the history of wine in human civilization. "So far, we knew that people drank wine in the Bronze Age (from the 12th century BC henceforth), but now we learn that the wine-making process was known long before that Age, since 4200 BC," Malamidou added.
The house was nicknamed "house of the bucranium" by archaeologists and had been destroyed around 4900 B.C. The dwelling along with wine traces also had a clay structure featuring a domesticated bull’s skull as its subject.
Researchers have found items like stone tools, fired clay vessels, beads, pendants, and amphorae with painted decoration at the site. All of these findings have helped researchers in understanding the daily lives of Neolithic communities.
Experts also got an idea about the diet of humans at that time due to the remains of grains and fruits they found in the area. The place also contained charred wood charcoal which possibly served as building material or fuel for inhabitants back in the day. Archaeologists have found proof of a rich variety of vegetation in the area. There were many fruit trees at the place including apples, pears, plums, and figs, all of which were exploited regularly by Neolithic humans.