Methods in Ancient Wine Archaeology

Abstract

Bringing together a wide array of modern scientific techniques and interdisciplinary approaches, this book provides an accessible guide to the methods that form the current bedrock of research into Roman, and more broadly ancient, wine. Chapters are arranged into thematic sections, covering biomolecular archaeology and chemical analysis, archaeobotany and palynology, vineyard and landscape archaeology and computational and experimental archaeology. These include discussions of some of the most recent techniques, such as ancient DNA and organic residue analyses, geophysical prospection, multispectral imaging and spatial and climatic modelling. While most of the content is of direct relevance to the Roman Mediterranean, the assortment of detailed case studies, methodological outlines and broader ‘state of the field’ reflections is of equal use to researchers working across disparate disciplines, geographies, and chronologies. The study of ancient Roman wine has been dominated until recently by traditional archaeological analyses focused upon production facilities and ceramic evidence related to transport. While such architecture and artefact-focussed approaches provide a fundamental foundation for our understanding of this topic, they fail to provide the requisite nuance to answer other questions regarding grape cultivation and wine production, consumption, use and trade. As the first compendium of its kind, this book supports the embedding of modern scientific and experimental techniques into archaeological fieldwork, research and laboratory analysis, pushing the boundaries of what questions can be explored, and serving as a launching point for future avenues of interdisciplinary research. This volume presents an array of cutting-edge scientific and archaeological methodologies used in the study of vine-growing and winemaking in the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean. Recent work on this subject tends to be dominated by traditional archaeological analyses of press facilities and, above all, ceramic evidence. These approaches lack the nuance to answer several vital questions about Greek and Roman grapevine cultivation and wine production, consumption, use and trade. In response, modern scientific techniques are increasingly filling these gaps in both fieldwork and laboratory contexts. By bringing together a wide range of disciplinary approaches in one location, this book provides an accessible guide to the scientific methodologies that form the new bedrock of current research on ancient wine. Arranged into thematic sections covering biomolecular archaeology and chemical analysis, archaeobotany and palynology, vineyard and landscape archaeology, and computational modelling and experimental archaeology, its detailed exemplary case studies and ‘state of the field’ chapters can be immediately utilized by researchers working across disparate fields, chronologies and research contexts as reliable points of reference. As the first compendium of its kind, it aims to foster interconnection of modern scientific technologies with archaeological fieldwork and analysis, pushing the boundaries of what questions can be explored and serving as a foundation for future avenues of research into ancient wine production.