Wine consumption at Troy enjoyed by both the elites and other residents

[guy]

 

In ancient Troy two-handed drinking vessels (such as the one pictured above and called depas amphikypellon) were used among the elite and probably passed among participants during festivities.
 

Analysis of the organic residue fragments of these vessels was consistent with fermentation products of wine.

Quote

 

Two grams of ceramic material was drilled from the inner walls of the vessel, and the collected ceramic powder was then treated with solvents to extract lipid and resin compounds. After further chemical processing, these were heated to a maximum of 380°C and then analysed. Several aldaric acids were identified in both specimens. Namely, succinic, fumaric, pyruvic, malic and – in significant quantities – tartaric acids. 

The latter can be interpreted as a grape marker, since such concentrations are not documented in other fruits available in the Mediterranean. The identification of succinic and pyruvic acids, commonly associated with fermentation markers, suggests the presence of wine (or vinegar) derived from ripe grapes.

 

 

 

Analysis of two simple cups (found by the hundreds at Troy) showed a similar organic profile.

It was concluded that wine consumption at Troy was enjoyed by both the elite and the common, more humble residents.

 

 

https://theconversation.com/uncorking-the-past-new-analysis-of-troy-findings-rewrites-the-story-of-wine-in-the-early-bronze-age-252953

Edited Thursday at 05:12 PM by guy

[guidoLaMoto]

Further confirmation that everyone drank wine. To this day, it's not unusual for Italian mothers to give their young kids diluted wine.....

Both Livy and Dion--of Halic-- claim that one possible reason why Brennus and the Gauls moved south to capture Rome in 390BC was because they had been introduced to wine by Etruscan merchants and they wanted to gain good wine growing land. Dion-- wrote that before that, they only drank a foul tasting concoction made from rotting grain....Maybe de gustibus non disputandum est, but I gotta agree-- beer is foul.

 

[caesar novus]

Was it enjoyed or primarily a sterility indicator? Do I sense conspiratorial grinning here in thinking respectable folks enjoyed a good buzz so why not lower inhibitions against guilty-pleasure amounts? Well, I present the opposite kind of role model trend in my inevitable video below.

As an amateur maker of hard cider, first from nonpasteurized fruit juice then only pasteurized, I can tell you the process won't take if the microbiology is foul. Apple pickers in particular are tempted to pick up ones on the ground stewing with deer or other fecal matter, and stomach outbreaks hit the news in fresh-squeeze ciderland. Grape drinks have more sugar that can boost alcohol levels, so maybe can even kill baddies from later water dilution.

I have sampled nice wine in Italy, and only encountered one local that overdid it there. But my formative college years were ones where Italian wine could famously be spiked with toxic antifreeze or wood alcohol, bringing charges of manslaughter. A recent application for surgery looked like they were prepared to refuse patients that even touched alcohol.

 

 

[guidoLaMoto]

You're right that the particular bugs involved in the fermentation process influence the final product. We must deduce, therefore, that the feet of certain Italian & French contadine are contaminated with the best dirt.

The civilized Romans diluted ther wine with water and ridiculed the provincials who didn't. Pliny wrote that a dilution of 2:3, IIRC, is optimum. Hollywood would have us believe the wild orgies were commonplace, but Romans actually looked down upon drunkedness, and to this day alcoholism is faily rare in Italy as opposed to France.

The traditional wisdom is that drinking fermented beverages helped reduce water borne illness, but that's probably not true. Even highly concentrated alcohol requires a prolonged exposure time to kill bacteria....I think they drank wine simply because water was relatively hard to get at in the arid Mediterranean areas.