ArchaeoAdWines - Archaeology of Adriatic Wine

Areas:
SH - Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract:
A rich variety of archaeological, literary and artistic testimonies throughout the cultures of the Mediterranean reminds us of the material and symbolic value of wine over the centuries. In recent decades the study of wine in ancient society and economy has become a highly dynamic and interdisciplinary field. This burgeoning field relies upon the introduction of new scientific approaches, which we would like to focus on in the project here proposed. Our methodological approach will be multidisciplinary, involving archaeologists and archaeobotanists as well as plant geneticists, and drawing upon a combination of sources. We will use literary and iconographic sources, archaeological analyses of material culture alongside scientific analyses, such as archaeobotanical evaluations of grape seeds and vine wood, genetic analyses of ancient DNA extracted from grape seeds aiming to identify ancient varieties of vine, chemical analyses on wine residue in the winemaking spaces and tools found in archaeological excavations. The project will focus on the ancient North Adriatic region, with a diachronic perspective, from 7th century BCE (the period in which the first domestic grape seeds are documented in the area) to Late antiquity (4th-5th centuries AD), in order to highlight evolutions and transformations in vine-growing and winemaking. The region is very interesting for many reasons: first, it has different "terroirs" between the lagoon, the plains and the hills and therefore different grape varieties and wines to compare are to be expected; second, it has never been studied from this point of view; third, it is still very famous for its wines, such as Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Amarone, Prosecco, Ribolla; fourth, it offers many interesting archaeological sites for research: for example two sites studied by the Verona Unit (Aquileia -UD- and Negrar near Verona) and two others by the Bologna Unit and in particular by the Bioarchaeology Research Center “ArcheoLaBio” (Monte Bibele -BO- and Classe near Ravenna). The project will yield the following resources, which we believe will be of great scholarly, cultural, and economic value: 1. a specialised website collecting and disseminating the results of the research on vine-growing and the winemaking in the North Adriatic region and in particular, a. the literary and iconographic data; b. significant archaeological sites and contexts between the Iron Age and Late Antiquity; c. the history of viticulture; d. tools and methods; e. genetic information recovered from ancient seeds and comparison to available genetic information on current varieties from this region; 2. publications; 3. an international conference. The project may thereby provide current wine
producers and the whole wine industry with a deeper knowledge of ancient local viticulture practices and its traditions, ultimately adding historical value to present day cultivars.

Duration of the project: 28/09/2023 – 28/09/2025

Co-Principal Investigator: Antonio Curci

Other member of the Research Team at the University of Bologna: Marialetizia Carra

Principal investigator: Patrizia Basso (University of Verona)

Partnership: University of Verona

Budget of the University of Bologna: 78.728 EUR

ERC sectors:
1. SH6_3 General archaeology, archaeometry, landscape archaeology
2. LS8_2 Biodiversity