Inside a burial ground from the Roman era 1st century AD found at Carmonain the south of SpainThe archeologistsIn the 2019they made one exceptional discovery. In itself, the complex looked like many Roman necropolises of the time, with i cremated remains of the deceased and related ones accompanying items. The exceptionality, however, lies in one of these: aglass urn which contained, together with the cremated remains of an individual, a red liquid. After in-depth chemical-physical analyses, it was found to be the wine in the world’s oldest liquid state. Let’s delve deeper into the question.
It’s rare that of substances they manage to be preserved in a liquid state for a long time. Analyzes archaeometric (chemical-physical analyses on substances found in archaeological contexts) are usually performed on allo compounds solid state. Already in the past substances such as oil or wine were analyzed, but had always been found in a solid state.
The discovery of the red liquid thus immediately attracted the attention of a research group made up of researchers from theUniversity of Cordoba he was born in Museum of the city of Carmona. Given the exceptional nature of the discovery, it was considered essential to carry out archaeometric analyzes to understand the composition of the liquid and establish itsorigin. The outcome of the analyzes was recently published on Journal of Archaeological Science.
The chemical analysis techniques used were the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). These are some of the most used techniques currently used to carry out archaeometric analyses.
The elements identified by chemical analyzes have revealed themselves compatible with the composition of the winewith due corrections due to the decay of the liquid and the presence of elements coming from the glass of the urn and from the human remains present. The one found in the Carmona burial ground therefore appears to be the oldest wine in the world preserved in a liquid state, datable to the 1st century. A.D
One of the most interesting news concerns the comparisons performed with some wines that are still produced in Andalusia, in southern Spain, and which made it possible to establish the origin of the wine discovered in the Roman tomb. In particular, direct comparisons were made (and profound similarities were found) with vines still cultivated today a few km from Carmona, in particular with those that still produce liqueur wines of the sherry type, very widespread in Andalusia.
The presence of wine inside a funerary urn should not surprise us. The drink was an essential part of the Roman funerary ritual: liquids such as wine and oil were used for offer libations to the deities and the deceasedthat is ritual spillageoften directly on the ashes of the deceased in the urn.
