The World’s Oldest Wine Discovered With Ashes Of First Century Man

An ancient Roman tomb discovered during home renovations in southern Spain contains cremated bones and ashes that have been soaking for two millennia in white wine.

“This is the oldest wine discovered to date,” says José Ruiz Arrebola, a chemist at the University of Cordoba in Spain.

This wine, along with the associated findings, is revealing more about ancient Roman funerary rituals in Spain.

Where was the Oldest Wine in the World Discovered?

The wine was discovered in 2019 in Carmona, Spain, by a homeowner who was doing renovation work. He discovered a crack that led to a hollow space and reported it to the local archaeology board. Researchers discovered it was a Roman tomb dating to the first century A.D. —  some of the goods discovered within confirmed the date. There were eight different niches in the tomb, six of them occupied by urns containing the remains of three men and three women.

“A key factor in the discovery was that the tomb had not been looted or altered previously, meaning it remained sealed for nearly 2,000 years,” Ruiz Arrebola says.

The ashes and bones in one of these urns sat inside a reddish liquid, along with a golden ring with a symbol of Janus — a Roman god associated with funeral rituals around the first century A.D.

Read More: The Discovery of 7,200-Year-Old Cheese and Other Ancient Food and Drink

How Did they Determine it was Wine?

In a study published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Ruiz Arrebola, and his colleagues analyzed the wine and compared it to wines from Montilla-Moriles, Jerez, and Sanlúcar — regions that still produce wine in the area. They found seven types of polyphenols also present in wine in the urn. They also found a lack of syringic acid — a polyphenol that is found in white wines but not red, revealing that the reddish tint the liquid had may have just been acquired over the centuries.  

The researchers tried to determine where the white wine came from. The trouble is, the Romans didn’t make wine using the same process as modern vintners. As a result, Ruiz Arrebola and his colleagues have conducted ongoing work to determine which wine-making regions have mineral salts that most resemble those found in this urn.

“Early indications suggest it could be from the Montilla-Moriles or Jerez regions, although we need to analyze a large number of samples to try to correlate these results with those of the Roman wine found in Carmona,” Ruiz Arrebola says.

Read More: 5 of the Most Unique and Luxurious Bronze Age Artifacts

Other Examples of Ancient Wine Discoveries

A number of ancient artifacts related to wine have been discovered around the world — some of them older than this recent discovery. For example, pottery dating back 8,000 years was discovered near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, containing grape residues and depictions of grape clusters on the vessel. Meanwhile, a wine press and fermentation jars dating back about 6,000 years were discovered in neighboring Armenia. Some wine jars dating back 5,000 years ago containing pips and residues have also been discovered in Egypt.

As far as liquid remains go, one famous example lies in a bottle of German wine dating to 325 A.D.— but the bottle discovered in southern Spain has never been opened.

All of these artifacts were merely residues or tools related to wine, though. “The uniqueness of this discovery lies in finding the wine in a liquid state,” Ruiz Arrebola says. “There are no precedents for a similar discovery.”

Read More: Underwater Wine Jars Suggest How Romans Kept Wine Safe And Flavorful

Why Did Romans Leave Their Remains in Wine?

The urn containing wine was the only one found in this ancient tomb. It was in glass encased with lead. A similar vessel in another niche in the tomb contained the cremated remains of a female. But instead of wine, other previously published research indicated the remains rested in patchouli — an ingredient used in perfume — and amber beads.

“These findings, aside from confirming the importance of wine in Roman funerary practices, also highlight the differences in rituals between males and females,” Ruiz Arrebola says. “At that time in the Roman Empire, wine was not considered an appropriate drink for women, which is why no traces of wine were found in the urn containing the woman’s remains, but instead, there were other grave goods more typical for women, such as perfume and necklace beads.”

Read More: What 4 of the Oldest Grave Sites Tell Us About Ancient Civilizations

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Joshua Rapp Learn is an award-winning D.C.-based science writer. An expat Albertan, he contributes to a number of science publications like National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, Hakai, and others.