Current:Home > InvestArchaeologists find 2,000-year-old wine in Spanish tomb: "Oldest wine ever discovered" -NextFrontier Finance
Archaeologists find 2,000-year-old wine in Spanish tomb: "Oldest wine ever discovered"
View
Date:2025-04-13 12:45:33
Archeologists have found an urn of wine that is more than 2,000 years old, making it the "oldest wine ever discovered," researchers said in a new study. The glass funerary urn was found in a Roman tomb in Carmona, Spain, that archeologists first uncovered in 2019.
A team of chemists at the University of Cordoba recently identified the wine as having been preserved since the first century, researchers said in a study published June 16 in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. The discovery bested the previous record held by a Speyer wine bottle discovered in 1867 that dated back to the fourth century.
The urn was used in a funerary ritual that involved two men and two women. As part of the ritual, the skeletal remains of one of the men was immersed in the wine. While the liquid had acquired a reddish hue, a series of chemical tests determined that, due to the absence of a certain acid, the wine was, in fact, white.
"At first we were very surprised that liquid was preserved in one of the funerary urns," Juan Manuel Román, the city of Carmona's municipal archaeologist, said in a news release.
Despite millennia having passed, the tomb had been well-sealed and its conditions were therefore extraordinarily intact, protected from floods and leaks, which allowed the wine to maintain its natural state, researchers said.
"Most difficult to determine was the origin of the wine, as there are no samples from the same period with which to compare it," the news release said. Still, it was no coincidence that the man's remains were found in the wine. According to the study, women in ancient Rome were prohibited from drinking wine.
"It was a man's drink," the release said. "And the two glass urns in the Carmona tomb are elements illustrating Roman society's gender divisions in its funerary rituals."
- In:
- Wine
- Rome
- Spain
S. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.
veryGood! (774)
Related
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Save 62% on Kyle Richards-Approved Amazon Finds During Prime Day 2024
- BBC Journalist John Hunt Speaks Out After Wife, Daughters Are Killed in Crossbow Attack
- Richard Simmons’ Cause of Death Under Investigation
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Trump expected to announce his VP running mate today as RNC gets underway
- In NBC interview, Biden says he shouldn't have said bullseye when referring to Trump, but says former president is the one engaged in dangerous rhetoric
- John Galt Is the Best Place to Shop It Girl Basics and They Start at Just $15
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Small plane crashes into river on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, officials say
Ranking
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- Common talks Jennifer Hudson feature on new album, addresses 'ring' bars
- JoJo Siwa Reveals Her Home Was Swatted Again
- Thousands of Philadelphia city workers are back in the office full time after judge rejects lawsuit
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Why Ingrid Andress' National Anthem Performance Is Sparking Debate
- Amazon's Prime Day Deals on Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks for $24, Fire Tablets for $74 & More
- Common talks Jennifer Hudson feature on new album, addresses 'ring' bars
Recommendation
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
U.K.'s King Charles III to visit Australia and Samoa on first royal tour abroad since cancer diagnosis
Margot Robbie pictured cradling her stomach amid pregnancy reports
Olympic flame arrives in Paris ahead of 2024 Summer Games
Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
New Jersey Democrats set to pick candidate in special House primary for Donald Payne Jr.'s seat
Where is British Open? What to know about Royal Troon Golf Club
'Big Brother' Season 26 cast: Meet the 16 houseguests competing for $750,000 grand prize