How did the Romans make wine? This is a question that, as mundane as it may seem at first, has been asked for a long time. Now, a study led by the University of Avignon (France) and published this Wednesday in the journal Plos One suggests that the Romans used native grapes to make wine and then kept it in amphorae that had previously been waterproofed with tar. imported tar.
This practice made it possible to produce, preserve and possibly aromatize the wine, both white and red, that they consumed. Chemical markers, along with plant tissue residues and pollen found in the amphorae, have been essential in confirming the presence of grape and pine derivatives in the jars, which served to create tar and waterproof the jars and perhaps also to aromatize the drink, as has been observed in similar archaeological sites.
The vine pollen matches that of wild species in the area, suggesting that these winemakers used local plants, although it is not clear if these were domesticated at the time. For its part, the pine tar is not local and was probably imported from Calabria or Sicily, according to the study.
To do this study, the authors have examined three Roman-era amphorae found in a seafloor deposit near the port of San Felice Circeo, Italy, about 90 km southeast of Rome.
The authors highlight the benefits of conducting multidisciplinary research to characterize cultural practices based on archaeological objects.
