Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture Review

Patrick McGovern's distinctly archaeological analysis of wine in prehistory documents the remarkable saga of human manipulation of the fermentation process. This book chronicles the evidence of 9,000 years of production not only of wine, but of beer, mead, grog (a delightful mixture of fermented fruit, barley or rice, and honey) and various assorted fruit wines and barley and rice beers. As a professor of archaeology specializing in the art of ancient viniculture at the University of Pennsylvania, McGovern is in a unique position to describe the history of wine-making as it relates to the development of human culture.McGovern outlines how the coalescence of environmental conditions and human technological advancements paved the way for the growing importance of fermentation in early societies. Anyone interested in the historical development of wine-making or the role of fermented beverages in prehistory will certainly be educated and entertained by this book.
Societies as diverse as the Egyptians,Greeks, the Sumerians and the Vikings had Gods who oversaw the production of fermented drinks, indicating that the religious significance of alcohol production and consumption is a common cross-cultural thread in the history of fermentation. Using religious, feasting, drinking and alcohol production evidence from the archaeological record as social indicators of alcohol consumption, McGovern blends modern scientific advances with old-fashioned archaeology to describe how he was able to isolate the evidence of fermentation from ancient residues clinging to the internal surfaces of pottery vessels. The descriptive process of recovering, analyzing and interpreting data is the source of McGovern's potency as a writer.
Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture places fermented beverages squarely in the middle of ancient culture and helps explain how the novel flavors, medicinal properties and psychoactive effects of alcohol correlate to the development of civilization. Even though this book may occasionally seem over-technical; or may appear to embellish the social and religious significance of wine, it is an excellent reference for scholars, vintners, brewers and people who enjoy learning about fermentation. Get more detail about Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture.