Toronto, Nov 14 (PTI) Scientists have discovered evidenceof the world's earliest winemaking in Georgia, dating back tothe origin of the practice to the Neolithic period around 6000BC.
Previously, the earliest known chemical evidence of winedated to 5400-5000 BC and was from an area in the ZagrosMountains of Iran.
Researchers from University of Toronto in Canada andGeorgian National Museum found that the practice beganhundreds of years earlier in the South Caucasus region on theborder of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
Excavations have focused on two Early Ceramic Neolithicsites (6000-4500 BC) called Gadachrili Gora and ShulaverisGora, about 50 kilometres south of the modern capital ofTbilisi.
Pottery fragments of ceramic jars recovered from thesites were collected and subsequently analysed by scientistsat the University of Pennsylvania in the US to ascertain thenature of the residue preserved inside for several millennia.
The newest methods of chemical extraction confirmedtartaric acid, the fingerprint compound for grape and wine aswell as three associated organic acids - malic, succinic andcitric - in the residue recovered from eight large jars.
"We believe this is the oldest example of thedomestication of a wild-growing Eurasian grapevine solely forthe production of wine," said Stephen Batiuk, researchassociate at University of Toronto.
"The domesticated version of the fruit has more than10,000 varieties of table and wine grapes worldwide," saidBatiuk, co-author of the study published in the journal PNAS.
"Georgia is home to over 500 varieties for wine alone,suggesting that grapes have been domesticated and cross-breeding in the region for a very long time," he said.
The sites excavated are remnants of two villages thatdate back to the Neolithic period, which began around 15200 BCin parts of the Middle East and ended between 4500 and 2000 BCin other parts of the world.
The Neolithic period is characterised by a package ofactivities that include the beginning of farming, thedomestication of animals, the development of crafts such aspottery and weaving, and the making of polished stone tools.
Scientists said that the combined archaeological,chemical, botanical, climatic and radiocarbon data provided bythe analysis demonstrate that the Eurasian grapevine Vitisvinifera was abundant around the sites.
It grew under ideal environmental conditions in earlyNeolithic times, similar to premium wine-producing regions inItaly and southern France today.
"Our research suggests that one of the primaryadaptations of the Neolithic way of life as it spread toCaucasia was viniculture," said Batiuk.
"The domestication of the grape apparently led eventuallyled to the emergence of a wine culture in the region," hesaid.
Batiuk describes an ancient society in which the drinkingand offering of wine penetrates and permeates nearly everyaspect of life from medical practice to special celebrations,from birth to death, to everyday meals at which toasting iscommon.
"As a medicine, social lubricant, mind-alteringsubstance, and highly valued commodity, wine became the focusof religious cults, pharmacopeias, cuisines, economics, andsociety throughout the ancient Near East," he said.
Batiuk cites ancient viniculture as a prime example ofhuman ingenuity in developing horticulture, and creative usesfor its byproducts. PTI MHN SARMHN.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.