Beginning of viniculture in France - PubMed (original) (raw)

Beginning of viniculture in France

Patrick E McGovern et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013.

Erratum in

Abstract

Chemical analyses of ancient organic compounds absorbed into the pottery fabrics of imported Etruscan amphoras (ca. 500-475 B.C.) and into a limestone pressing platform (ca. 425-400 B.C.) at the ancient coastal port site of Lattara in southern France provide the earliest biomolecular archaeological evidence for grape wine and viniculture from this country, which is crucial to the later history of wine in Europe and the rest of the world. The data support the hypothesis that export of wine by ship from Etruria in central Italy to southern Mediterranean France fueled an ever-growing market and interest in wine there, which, in turn, as evidenced by the winepress, led to transplantation of the Eurasian grapevine and the beginning of a Celtic industry in France. Herbal and pine resin additives to the Etruscan wine point to the medicinal role of wine in antiquity, as well as a means of preserving it during marine transport.

Keywords: Western Mediterranean; ancient medicine; biomolecular archaeology; viticulture.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Representative amphora types from the western Mediterranean: (A) Phoenician amphora (type A-PUN Ch8), ca. 700–600 B.C.; (B) Etruscan amphora (type A-ETR 4), ca. 626–575 B.C.; (C) Massaliote amphora (type A-MAS 1), ca. 550–475 B.C. Drawings by B.P.L., after ref. .

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

Map of the ancient settlement of Lattara (modern Lattes), showing the locations of the analyzed samples. Map courtesy of Lattes excavations (redrawn by B.P.L.).

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

Ancient pressing platform from Lattara, seen from above. Note the spout for drawing off a liquid. It was raised off the courtyard floor by four stones. Masses of grape remains were found nearby. Photograph courtesy of Michel Py, copyright l'Unité de Fouilles et de Recherches Archéologiques de Lattes.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.

Extracted ion chromatograms acquired using full-scan Orbitrap LC/MS analysis and a 5-ppm window (at the theoretical mass of deprotonated tartaric acid). (A) Lattara no. 4 extract (Top), no. 7 extract (Middle), and tartaric acid standard (Bottom). (B) Lattara pressing platform (Upper) and tartaric acid standard (Lower). The measured accurate masses, indicated in the boxes, are averages taken across the peaks.

References

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    1. McGovern PE. Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages. Berkeley, CA: Univ of California Press; 2009/2010.
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