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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
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54 124 Thessaloniki, Greece (Email: sval@hist.auth.gr)
M. Mangafa
Affiliation:
2Archaeologist/Archaeobotanist (deceased 1998)
Ch. Koukouli-Chrysanthaki
Affiliation:
3Honorary Curator of Antiquities, Archaeological Museum of Kavala, Greece (Email: ckoukouli@yahoo.gr)
D. Malamidou
Affiliation:
4Curator of Antiquities, Archaeological Museum of Kavala, Greece (Email: d.malamidou@free.fr)
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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.

Type
Research
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2007

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