Well-Aged: Oldest Traces of Italian Wine Discovered
By Megan Gannon, Live Science Contributor | September 1, 2017 06:17am ET
The oldest traces of Italian wine have been discovered in a cave in Sicily, researchers announced.
Wine residues were found on a large ceramic jar that was stored nearly 6,000 years ago in the caverns of a cult site known as Monte Kronio.
Archaeologists can use chemical analysis on seemingly empty vessels to detect residues of ancient food and drink. In recent years, researchers have discovered residues ranging from beer-making by-products on 5,000-year-old Chinese pottery to 7,500-year-old milk fat still clinging to prehistoric cheese strainers found in Poland. [Photos: Ancient Beer Recipe Discovered in 'Cradle of Chinese Civilization']
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Well-Aged: Oldest Traces of Italian Wine Discovered
The ancient pottery was discovered in a cave of Monte Kronio in Agrigento, Italy.
Credit: Davide Tanasi/University of South Florida
The oldest traces of Italian wine have been discovered in a cave in Sicily, researchers announced.
Wine residues were found on a large ceramic jar that was stored nearly 6,000 years ago in the caverns of a cult site known as Monte Kronio.
Archaeologists can use chemical analysis on seemingly empty vessels to detect residues of ancient food and drink. In recent years, researchers have discovered residues ranging from beer-making by-products on 5,000-year-old Chinese pottery to 7,500-year-old milk fat still clinging to prehistoric cheese strainers found in Poland. [Photos: Ancient Beer Recipe Discovered in 'Cradle of Chinese Civilization']
For the study in Sicily, researchers looked for residues on large ceramic storage jars located at Monte Kronio and another prehistoric archaeological site, Sant'Ippolito hill. Monte Kronio, a limestone hill that juts out near Sicily's southwest coast, is famous for its network of hydrothermal caves. Because of steam rising from underground volcanic activity, the galleries are hot and extremely humid, with the air temperature hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). People have flocked to the caves for their curative, spa-like effects since the Neolithic era.
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