Featured Image Credit: Morsa Images/Getty Images
Topics: Alcohol
Rachael Davis
Scientists and historians have identified a shocking ingredient that was included in Roman-era wine.
Of course, wine typically improves with age. There’s a cut-off point where it’s best poured down a sink – or stored in a museum – but as a general rule it tends to get a better flavour and texture with time.
If you happen upon any that’s survived since the fall of the ancient world, you’d best leave the cork in it.
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A bottle of Roman wine was found in a Roman tomb in Spain that dates back to the 1st century CE, and it’s the oldest liquid wine that’s ever been found.
On June 18th 2024, researchers from the University of Córdoba published their discovery in in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
"In ancient Rome, as in other societies, death had a special meaning, and people wanted to be remembered to, in some way, stay alive,” the report said.
The tomb where it was found is in Carmona, Spain, and it was first unearthed in 2019 by a family who were having work done on their home.
Despite originally being a white wine, the liquid had gone a brownish-red in the intervening 2,000 years.
The tomb was well-sealed, helping the wine to ‘maintain its natural state’, but that doesn’t mean we should be pouring a glass of the stuff.
Analysis of the ancient beverage found that it contains cremated human remains.
“This was the first time something like this had been discovered,” José Rafael Ruiz Arrebola, an organic chemist at the University of Córdoba, told All That’s Interesting.
“We did not expect it to contain liquid, much less the quantity found.
“Until now, all the funerary urns found contained only cremated bone remains and various objects related to funerary offerings.”
He explained how the team figured out that the liquid was wine, too: “We looked for biomarkers, which are chemical compounds that unequivocally tell you what a particular substance is."
Other archaeological finds within the tomb included a funerary urn containing ‘cremated bone remains’, and a gold ring adorned with Janus, a two-headed Roman deity.