Ancient traces of winemaking found in Georgia

An archaeological dig in Georgia has reportedly turned up evidence of wine cultivation dating back 8,000 years.

This Monday, the Georgian National Museum announced that grape seeds and “vine dust” dating to 6,000 BC had been uncovered at the Gadachrili Gora site (pictured) in the southwest of the country.

The site, near the village of Imiri in the Kvemo Kartli region, has been the subject of a dig since 2014 and has already turned up a number of wine-related artifacts, including examples of wine grapes and skins inside Neolithic ‘kvevris‘.

Most recently a number of clay vessels were uncovered in which were found the grape seeds and remains of what has turned out to be ancient vines that had crumbled and turned to dust through the millenia.

The discovery would seem to add further weight to Georgia’s long-cherished and championed belief that it is the birthplace and cradle of viticulture and winemaking.

The dig, conducted by archaeologists from a number of nations including Denmark and Canada, has also unearthed evidence of other farming for wheat and legumes.

The discoveries as a whole likewise lend greater credence to many Georgian historians’ theory that the country was once a key component of the ‘fertile crescent’ – a heavily cultivated swathe of territory that cuts across much of the northern Middle East.

Davit Lortkipanidze, the director of the Georgian National Museum, has said in the past: “I believe that Georgia used to be a part of a fertile crescent (the territory currently spanning Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and the Sinai Peninsula) in the past; I was led to this conclusion by the fact that there exist other places similar to Imiri and Shulaveri, such as Arukhlo, which served as hosts to not only grape, but wheat cultivation as well.”