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Cohen P, Bacilieri R, Ramos-Madrigal J, Privman E, Boaretto E, Weber A, Fuks D, Weiss E, Erickson-Gini T, Bucking S, Tepper Y, Cvikel D, Schmidt J, Gilbert MTP, Wales N, Bar-Oz G, Meiri M. Ancient DNA from a lost Negev Highlands desert grape reveals a Late Antiquity wine lineage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2213563120. [PMID: 37068234 PMCID: PMC10151551 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213563120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent excavations of Late Antiquity settlements in the Negev Highlands of southern Israel uncovered a society that established commercial-scale viticulture in an arid environment [D. Fuks et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 19780-19791 (2020)]. We applied target-enriched genome-wide sequencing and radiocarbon dating to examine grapevine pips that were excavated at three of these sites. Our analyses revealed centuries long and continuous grape cultivation in the Southern Levant. The genetically diverse pips also provided clues to ancient cultivation strategies aimed at improving agricultural productivity and ensuring food security. Applying genomic prediction analysis, a pip dated to the eighth century CE was determined to likely be from a white grape, to date the oldest to be identified. In a kinship analysis, another pip was found to be descendant from a modern Greek cultivar and was thus linked with several popular historic wines that were once traded across the Byzantine Empire. These findings shed light on historical Byzantine trading networks and on the genetic contribution of Levantine varieties to the classic Aegean landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pnina Cohen
- The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Roberto Bacilieri
- UMR Amélioration génétique et adaptation de plantes Institut, Univ Montpellier, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Institut Agro, F-34398 Montpellier, France
| | - Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Eyal Privman
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Elisabetta Boaretto
- Max Planck-Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, Dangoor Research Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Audrey Weber
- UMR Amélioration génétique et adaptation de plantes Institut, Univ Montpellier, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement, Institut Agro, F-34398 Montpellier, France
| | - Daniel Fuks
- Department of Archaeology, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
| | - Ehud Weiss
- The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, 52900 Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Tali Erickson-Gini
- Archaeological Division, Israel Antiquities Authority, 61012 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Scott Bucking
- Department of History, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60614
| | - Yotam Tepper
- Department of Archaeology, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498837, Israel
| | - Deborah Cvikel
- Department of Maritime Civilizations, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
- The Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Joshua Schmidt
- Department of Archaeology, Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498837, Israel
| | - M Thomas P Gilbert
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics, The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University Museum, 7012 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Nathan Wales
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York YO1 7EP, United Kingdom
| | - Guy Bar-Oz
- School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498837, Israel
| | - Meirav Meiri
- The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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