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The origin of the vine The Greeks The Romans The Byzantines Modern Times Home page

Prehistory of the vine Contrary to popular belief that retains that the vine was an imported plant from the eastern Asia in ancient times, numerous fossil findings from the extreme north of the European continent to the Mediterranean regions certify that, if not before, certainly from the beginning of the tertiary era, there began in Europe the apparition of plants that refer to the botanical genus of 'Vitis', true ancestors of what we call today the 'European vine'. The fossils reveal vines that differed greatly to today's vine due to the mutations in the climate between the Eocene, Miocene and Pliocene eras. Only during the Pliocene period do we find vines that are similar to today's, such as the V.praevinifera Saporta, and the V.subintegra. Saporta, ecc. Therefore there is solid evidence to suggest that the vine existed before the appearance of man. Throughout Europe there's evidence, especially from findings of grape seeds, that during the Neolithic era man used grapes in his diet. However in Italy during the iron and bronze age only traces of the wild vine the 'vidis vinifera silvestris have been identified, thus excluding any evidence of vine cultivation. The first traces of a cultivation of vines for winemaking purposes arise 2000 years before Christ in Sicily. The cultivation of vines in south Italy is probably owed to the remote commercial activities of the minoic and egeo-micenea civilisation with the south.

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