An evaluation of a refined consuming vessel found in Heinrich Schliemann’s excavation of Troy within the nineteenth century has confirmed that it was used to drink wine within the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2300-2000 B.C.). The identical expertise was used to investigate residue in frequent cups and beakers and the proof of wine was discovered there too. That is the earliest chemical proof of wine consumption in Troy. The presence of it in vessels of every kind discovered outdoors of the citadel as nicely implies that wine was not the unique province of Early Bronze Age elites as students beforehand believed based mostly on the prevalence of wine vessels in ceremonial and aristocratic contexts.
Researchers from the College of Tübingen examined residue in a depas amphikypellon, a cylindrical cup with a widened mouth and two curved handles. The shape was widespread within the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean and Aegean. Examples have been present in mainland Greece, the Cyclades, Minoan Crete, northern Syria and most of all, in Anatolia. Schliemann discovered quite a few them in his excavation of Troy, and certainly one of them wound up on the College of Tübingen.
When he discovered the depas vessels, Schliemann believed they have been those described by Homer a number of instances within the Iliad (e.g., Hephaestus’ “double cup,” the gold “double cup” Oeneus provides to Bellerophon, the “cup exceeding truthful” given to Priam by Thracians). The one factor that’s double about them is the handles, nonetheless, and loads of different historic Greek vessel kinds have these, so there isn’t any actual connection between the depas and the Iliad, they usually far, far predate the Homeric Age (1200-800 B.C.). (Schliemann was incorrect about so much, together with the ages of the layers of Troy he dug into.)
So whereas they don’t have anything to do with the Trojan Battle and its related mythology, depas amphikypellon vessels include vital details about the motion of commerce items, native pottery manufacturing and what folks drank within the Early Bronze Age.
From Schliemann’s finds, a Depas beaker and two fragments are actually within the Classical Archaeology Assortment on the College of Tübingen. Maxime Rageot from the College of Bonn milled a two-gram pattern from the 2 fragments. He then heated the samples to 380 levels Celsius and analyzed the ensuing combination utilizing fuel chromatography (GC) and gas-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). “The decisive issue was the detection of succinic and pyruvate acids: they solely kind when grape juice ferments. This implies we are able to now say with certainty that wine was really consumed from the Depas beakers and never simply grape juice,” mentioned Maxime Rageot from the College of Bonn.
Wine was essentially the most treasured beverage within the Bronze Age, and a depas cup was essentially the most beautiful vessel. Depas cups have been present in temple and palace complexes. Due to this fact, students concluded that wine was consumed on particular events in elite circles. However maybe lower-class folks in Troy additionally drank wine as an on a regular basis meals and beverage? “We additionally chemically examined atypical cups discovered within the outer settlements of Troy, and thus outdoors the citadel. These vessels additionally contained wine!” mentioned Stephan Blum of the College of Tübingen. “This makes it clear that wine was an on a regular basis beverage, even for atypical folks.”
