A great article today in the Wall Street Journal (or try this link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704458204576074141252276326.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5
It is about a 6000 year old winery found in Armenia... and you thought YOU hadn't cleaned up your wine room lately!
<ul ="c -articleStamp"><li ="dateStamp">JANUARY 11, 2011[/list]
<h1>Perhaps a Red, 4,100 B.C.
</font></h1><h2 ="sub">In Armenia, Scientists Find Oldest Known Winery; A Big Vat for Treading Grapes</font></h2>
<h3 ="byline">By ROBERT LEE HOTZ
</h3><a name="U401725898267PLI"></a>
Scientists have
discovered the world's oldest known winery, secreted amid dozens of
prehistoric graves in a cavern in Armenia, an international research
team said Tuesday.
<a name="U401725898267HZ"></a>
Outside a mountain village still known
for its wine-making skill, archaeologists unearthed a large vat set in a
platform for treading grapes, along with the well-preserved remains of
crushed grapes, seeds and vine leaves, dating to about 6,100 years ago—a
thousand years older than other comparable finds.
On three pot shards, researchers from the Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, found a
residue of malvidin, a pigment that gives grapes and wine a dark red
hue.
<a name="U401725898267QFB"></a>
The ancient seeds belonged to a
domesticated grape variety, known as Vitis vinifera vinifera, that is
still used to make red wine today, the team reported.
<a name="U401725898267EY"></a>
"It looks like this cave complex was
used during the Copper Age as a cemetery and a place of ritual," said
UCLA archaeologist Gregory Areshian, who was co-director of the
excavation effort. "The production of wine could be related to those
rituals."
<a name="U401725898267OD"></a>The find, funded by National Geographic
and to be reported Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science, is
evidence that the quest for a decent red may be as old as civilization
itself... (see the full article if you can, or email me and I'll be happy to email you the article if you can't access it on-line) </font>
It is about a 6000 year old winery found in Armenia... and you thought YOU hadn't cleaned up your wine room lately!
<ul ="c -articleStamp"><li ="dateStamp">JANUARY 11, 2011[/list]
<h1>Perhaps a Red, 4,100 B.C.
</font></h1><h2 ="sub">In Armenia, Scientists Find Oldest Known Winery; A Big Vat for Treading Grapes</font></h2>
<h3 ="byline">By ROBERT LEE HOTZ
</h3><a name="U401725898267PLI"></a>
Scientists have
discovered the world's oldest known winery, secreted amid dozens of
prehistoric graves in a cavern in Armenia, an international research
team said Tuesday.
<a name="U401725898267HZ"></a>
Outside a mountain village still known
for its wine-making skill, archaeologists unearthed a large vat set in a
platform for treading grapes, along with the well-preserved remains of
crushed grapes, seeds and vine leaves, dating to about 6,100 years ago—a
thousand years older than other comparable finds.
On three pot shards, researchers from the Cotsen Institute of
Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, found a
residue of malvidin, a pigment that gives grapes and wine a dark red
hue.
<a name="U401725898267QFB"></a>
The ancient seeds belonged to a
domesticated grape variety, known as Vitis vinifera vinifera, that is
still used to make red wine today, the team reported.
<a name="U401725898267EY"></a>
"It looks like this cave complex was
used during the Copper Age as a cemetery and a place of ritual," said
UCLA archaeologist Gregory Areshian, who was co-director of the
excavation effort. "The production of wine could be related to those
rituals."
<a name="U401725898267OD"></a>The find, funded by National Geographic
and to be reported Tuesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science, is
evidence that the quest for a decent red may be as old as civilization
itself... (see the full article if you can, or email me and I'll be happy to email you the article if you can't access it on-line) </font>
