Wine and the Vine: The
Archaeological and Chemical Hunt for the Origins of Viniculture
Patrick E. McGovern
Senior Research Scientist and Adj. Associate Prof., Anthropology
Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology
University of Pennsylvania Museum
An illustrated lecture sponsored by the
Classical Studies Program and the University of Arkansas Classical Studies
student honorary society Eta Sigma Phi.
Monday, October 18,
6:00 PM
Giffels Auditorium, Old
Main
University of Arkansas
The history of civilization is, in many ways, the history
of wine. Drawing upon recent archaeological discoveries, molecular and
DNA sleuthing, and the texts and art of long-forgotten peoples, Patrick
McGovern takes us on a fascinating odyssey back to the beginnings of this
consequential beverage when early hominids probably enjoyed a wild grape
wine. We follow the course of human ingenuity in domesticating the Eurasian
vine and learning how to make and preserve wine some 7,000 years ago.
Viniculture stretched out its tentacles and entwined itself
with one culture after another (whether Egyptian, Iranian, Israelite, or
Greek) and laid the foundation for civilization itself. As medicine, social
lubricant, mind-altering substance, and highly valued commodity, wine became
the focus of religious cults, pharmacopoeias, cuisines, economies, and society.
As an evocative symbol of blood, it was used in temple ceremonies and occupies
the heart of the Eucharist. Kings celebrated their victories with wine and
made certain that they had plenty for the afterlife.
Dr. Patrick E. McGovern has pioneered the emerging field
of Molecular Archaeology. He has focused on the organic analysis of vessel
contents and dyes, particularly Royal Purple, wine, and beer. The chemical
confirmation of the earliest instances of these organics–Royal Purple dating
to ca. 1300-1200 B.C. and wine and beer dating to ca. 3500-3100B.C.–received
wide media coverage. A 1996 article published in Nature, the international
scientific journal, pushes the earliest date for wine back another 2000
years–to the Neolithic period (ca. 5400-5000B.C.). The most recent manifestation
of what Molecular Archaeology is capable of achieving is the King Midas
funerary feast, which was the cover story of the Dec. 23, 1999 issue of
Nature. He is the author of the recently published Ancient Wine:
The Search for the Origins of Viniculture (Princeton University Press),
2003.
In addition to over 80 periodical articles, McGovern
has also written or edited 8 books, including The Origins and Ancient
History of Wine (Gordon and Breach, 1996), Organic Contents of Ancient
Vessels (MASCA, 1990), Cross-Craft and Cross-Cultural Interactions
in Ceramics (American Ceramic Society, 1989), and Late Bronze Palestinian
Pendants: Innovation in a Cosmopolitan Age (Sheffield, 1985). In 2000,
his book on the Foreign Relations of the “Hyksos,“
a scientific study of Middle Bronze pottery in the Eastern Mediterranean,
was published by Archaeopress.
As a Research Associate in the Near East Section of the
Museum, he has also directed the Baq`ah Valley (Jordan) Project over the
past 20 years (described in a University Museum monograph, The Late Bronze
and Early Iron Ages of Central Transjordan, 1986), and been involved
many other excavations throughout the Middle East as a pottery and stratigraphic
consultant. A detailed study of the New Kingdom Egyptian garrison at Beth
Shan, an older Museum excavation, also appeared in 1994 in the Museum
Monograph series, entitled The Late Bronze Egyptian Garrison at Beth
Shan.
For further information, contact Daniel B. Levine, Professor,
Classical Studies: dlevine@uark.edu
See more of Patrick McGovern’s Work, With Illustrations:
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mcgovern/
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Midas/intro.html
http://www.upenn.edu/museum/Wine/wineintro.html
http://www.upenn.edu/museum/News/beer.html
http://pup.princeton.edu/titles/7591.html
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