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Grape-pressings from northern Greece: the earliest wine in the Aegean?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

S.M. Valamoti ,
M. Mangafa ,
Ch. Koukouli-Chrysanthaki  and
D. Malamidou
S.M. Valamoti
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54 124 Thessaloniki, Greece (Email: [email protected])
M. Mangafa
Affiliation:
2Archaeologist/Archaeobotanist (deceased 1998)
Ch. Koukouli-Chrysanthaki
Affiliation:
3Honorary Curator of Antiquities, Archaeological Museum of Kavala, Greece (Email: [email protected])
D. Malamidou
Affiliation:
4Curator of Antiquities, Archaeological Museum of Kavala, Greece (Email: [email protected])
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Houses burnt down at the Neolithic site of Dikili Tash in northern Greece preserved the remains of wild grapes and figs. The charred shapes showed that there was a pile of grape pips with skins – clear evidence for the extraction of juice. The authors argue that the juice was probably used to make wine – towards the end of the fifth millennium BC the earliest so far from the Aegean. The occupants of the houses also had two-handled cups, providing another clue to consumption of a special kind.

Keywords

AegeanMacedoniaGreecewinegrapesviticulture
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 81 , Issue 311 , 1 March 2007 , pp. 54 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2007

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