Harvests into drinks: fruit, grain and milk
A marula harvest, a rice mash and a bowl of fermented mare’s milk reveal different ways to make alcohol, and different kinds of knowledge behind the drink.
Equipment · Historical object · Jars, pots and crocks
Early Neolithic Georgian grape-wine jars
Very large early Neolithic pottery jars from Georgia carry the earliest biomolecular evidence for grape wine in the Near East. Their probable wine role is documented; their burial and exact relationship to modern qvevri are not.
Pottery and early grape wine
Chemical residue analyses from pottery at Shulaveris Gora and Gadachrili Gora in present-day Georgia provide biomolecular evidence for grape wine around 6000–5800 BCE. The PNAS study combines that evidence with environmental and botanical findings; it calls the early jars probable combined fermentation, ageing and serving vessels. This is a reasoned functional interpretation for a common jar type, not proof of the contents or use of every individual pot.
The same study describes a large jar from nearby Khramis Didi-Gora as a useful example of the period’s pottery profile. It is nearly a metre high and wide, with estimated volume above 300 litres and a small flattened or low pedestal base. Some very large jars carry clay globules set within curved strips near the rim, interpreted as a schematic grape-cluster motif. The museum jar is a visual comparison, not one of the pottery sherds whose residue established the wine evidence.
Sources for this section
Burial is not established for the Neolithic jars
The PNAS authors explicitly say that the position of the Shulaveri and Gadachrili jars is unknown: the finds do not show whether they stood above ground or were partly or fully buried. Their small bases may invite a burial hypothesis, but that possibility is not a documented installation. The authors place the earliest archaeological evidence for qvevri winemaking in Georgia much later, in the eighth–seventh centuries BCE; the long interval prevents a claim that the Neolithic jars were modern qvevri unchanged.
A different, living Georgian practice is well documented. UNESCO describes the qvevri as an egg-shaped earthenware vessel, sealed and buried for fermentation; the National Wine Agency records regional differences, including qvevri buried in Kakhetian cellar floors and a distinct outdoor practice in western Georgia. The cutaway illustration pairs these two records for comparison: the exposed Neolithic jar is not shown underground, while the buried vessel represents the documented modern qvevri tradition.
Reading the vessel evidence
Pottery is durable, but residue, shape, decoration and find position answer different questions. Chemical traces can support what a vessel held; a common jar form and botanical remains help interpret likely use; neither alone reveals its exact routine. A broad body and small base are not proof of burial, and a grape-like ornament is not itself proof of wine. The page keeps those observations separate from the present-day qvevri tradition.
This entry describes an archaeological jar class and the grape-wine evidence associated with it, rather than a complete ancient recipe or a reconstruction of a Neolithic cellar. No firing schedule, seal, lid, capacity standard, wall thickness or care instructions are reported for the class. Modern qvevri are a useful Georgian comparison, but their specific shape, burial and fermentation practice should not be projected back onto every early sixth-millennium vessel.
History
McGovern et al. report chemical evidence for grape wine in pottery from Shulaveris Gora and Gadachrili Gora dated about 6000–5800 BCE. The study treats very large jars as probable combined fermentation, ageing and serving vessels, while distinguishing this evidence from later qvevri winemaking.
Equipment details
PowerNo power The jar is passive pottery. The evidence does not identify a dedicated heating system or a single way the vessels were used.
How you get oneNot established The study identifies excavated pottery but does not describe the potters, workshop, exchange or acquisition route for these particular jars.
Made of
- Pottery clay — Vessel body
The archaeological study describes large pottery jars; it does not specify a single clay recipe, firing technique, lining or finish for the class. - Applied clay strips and globules — Exterior ornament on some large jars
A Khramis Didi-Gora example has globules within semicircular strips near the mouth; the motif is interpreted as a schematic grape cluster, not a feature of every jar.
Places
Georgia
Historical attestation · Country evidenceThe PNAS study reports grape-wine evidence in pottery from Shulaveris Gora and Gadachrili Gora in present-day Georgia. This country-level row does not claim every Georgian jar was used for wine.
Kvemo Kartli
Historical attestation · Region evidenceThe two sampled settlements lie in the province of Kvemo (Lower) Kartli, roughly 50 km south of Tbilisi; the source does not locate every jar in this region.
Shulaveris Gora
Historical attestation · Locality evidenceOne of the two Neolithic settlements whose pottery sherds were chemically analyzed in the PNAS study.
Gadachrili Gora
Historical attestation · Locality evidenceOne of the two Neolithic settlements whose pottery sherds were chemically analyzed in the PNAS study.
Related
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Qvevri
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Aniseed
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Areni-1 wine-production installation
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Avocado (ripe flesh)
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Baking bell (coal-covered pot)
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Sources
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesArchaeology · Form · Function · Geography · History
Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South CaucasusChemical evidence from pottery at Shulaveris Gora and Gadachrili Gora supports grape wine around 6000–5800 BCE.
The authors say very large jars probably served combined fermentation, ageing and serving functions; a Khramis Didi-Gora example is nearly 1 m high and wide and estimated above 300 L.
Some jars have clay globules inside semicircular strips near their mouths, interpreted as schematic grape clusters.
The authors say the Neolithic jars' placement is unknown and that evidence for Georgian qvevri winemaking itself is later, in the eighth–seventh centuries BCE.
Cited in: Pottery and early grape wine; Burial is not established for the Neolithic jars; Reading the vessel evidence
UNESCO Intangible Cultural HeritageModern tradition · Material · Installation · Geography
Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making methodUNESCO describes the Georgian qvevri as an egg-shaped earthenware vessel used for wine-making and storage in a living Georgian tradition.
In the described present-day method the filled qvevri is sealed and buried during fermentation; this is a documented comparison and not evidence that the Neolithic jars were buried.
Cited in: Burial is not established for the Neolithic jars; Reading the vessel evidence
National Wine Agency of GeorgiaModern form · Regional use · Installation
Qvevri WineThe agency describes the egg-shaped qvevri as the most common current Georgian form and distinguishes regional wine-making practices.
It documents qvevri buried in cellar floors in Kakheti while describing a different outdoor storage practice in western Georgia.
Cited in: Burial is not established for the Neolithic jars