Confirming the function of a Final Bronze Age wine processing site in the Nuraghe Genna Maria in Villanovaforru (South Sardinia)

Authors

  • G. Damasco AGRIS Sardegna, Agricultural Research Agency of Sardinia, Cagliari, Italy
  • D. Delpiano AGRIS Sardegna, Agricultural Research Agency of Sardinia, Cagliari, Italy
  • R. Larcher Edmund Mach Foundation, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
  • T. Nardin Edmund Mach Foundation, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
  • M. Perra Director of Villanovafranca Museum "Su Mulinu", Villanovafranca, Italy
  • G. Lovicu AGRIS Sardegna, Agricultural Research Agency of Sardinia, Cagliari, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5073/vitis.2020.59.93-100

Keywords:

stonewine press; wine processing; Bronze Age; Sardinia; Nuragic civilization.

Abstract

The stone artefact in the hut γ of the NuragheGenna Maria, object of this study, is part of a compound still unpublished today and dated to the Nuragic period. It was found during a 1991 excavation, revealing a situation unchanged since the collapse occurred between the 10th and 9th century B.C., thus preserving the situation at the time of the collapse to this day.
The presence of tartaric acid - the marker considered to determinate the presence of wines or products deriving from grapes - has been determined using HPLC-DAD and UHPLC-HQOMS. So the findings under examination, together with the overall evaluation of the archaeological aspects examined, suggests to positively consider the stone artifact as a "laccus" (the latin word for wine presses, still used in the Sardinian language today ) for grape crushing. The internal slope of the floor of the "laccus" allowed the extraction of juice with rapid separation of juice from berry skins.
The presence in Sardinia of a large number of "stone wine presses" ("palmenti" in Italian) such as that of the Nuraghe Genna Maria studied in this article, brings a contribution to their dating and confirm the existence of an oenological industry on the island in the Archaic period (9th-10th century B.C.).

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Published

2020-07-30

Issue

Vol. 59 No. 3 (2020): Vitis

Section

Article

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