Monday, July 30, 2012

Ancient History in the News Earliest Chinese Wine

On July 6, 2012, it was reported in China's earliest wine unearthed in NW tomb, that a bronze wine vessel had been found in Shaanxi province from the West Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC - 771 BC) containing a liquid.

The container wasn't opened, however.

I'm not sure, but I think the significance of this news is that --once open if it proves to be wine -- it is the oldest real, potentially drinkable wine, rather than simply a wine residue, since in 2004, archaeochemist Patrick E. McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology found residue of wine that was 9,000-years old in pottery jars from the Neolithic village of Jiahu, in Henan province, Northern China. [SeeOldest Wine Comes From China -9,000 Years of Wine-Making]

Related:

  • A Greek Wine Jar
  • Which Were the Popular Roman Wines?
  • The Origins of Wine, From Archaeology at About.com
  • Dionysus the Wine God

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