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The Discovery of Wine Residues in Ancient Troy’s Depas Goblets

In a notable scene from the first book of the Iliad, the god Hephaestus distributes a “double goblet” during a divine banquet on Mount Olympus, pouring sweet nectar for the other gods. This vivid description evokes the joyous revelry of the gods, underscoring themes of celebration and camaraderie, as noted by Homer, “Their laughter broke out irrepressibly; no one’s heart went unsatisfied.”

While the Iliad is fundamentally rooted in mythology, it intertwines aspects of cultural practices that invite deeper exploration. The goblet described is hypothesized to be the depas amphikypellon, an archaeological artifact recognized for its distinctive shape with a slender neck and two prominent handles.

The enduring question of whether the inhabitants of Troy actually consumed wine from these vessels has perplexed scholars for decades. Recent advancements in archaeological research have begun to shed light on this mystery.

For the first time, researchers have successfully detected chemical residues indicative of wine in goblets excavated from Hisarlik, the Turkish site believed to correlate with the legendary city described by Homer, as detailed in a study published in the American Journal of Archaeology. Heinrich Schliemann, a German entrepreneur and self-taught archaeologist, famously conducted excavations in the 1870s, though his methodology was often criticized for its haphazard nature as stated by Smithsonian magazine.

“Schliemann proposed that the depas goblet was used during celebrations, reflecting the descriptions found in the Iliad,” remarks Stephan Blum, an archaeologist at the University of Tübingen and co-author of the recent study. However, the lack of tangible evidence to support his claims left much of his theory in doubt.

Over 100 depas goblets have been discovered at the site, dating between 2500 and 2000 B.C.E., typically ranging from 5 to 15 inches in height and capable of holding up to a liter of liquid.

In this study, researchers extracted two-gram samples from the inner walls of fragments of goblets unearthed by Schliemann. After heating these samples to over 700 degrees Fahrenheit, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques revealed the presence of succinic and pyruvic acids, both byproducts of wine fermentation.

“The detection of succinic and pyruvic acids is significant; they are only produced when grape juice ferments,” stated Maxime Rageot, a biomolecular archaeologist at the University of Bonn. “This allows us to assert with confidence that the beverages consumed from these depas goblets were indeed wine, not merely grape juice.”

However, as highlighted by Popular Science, these goblets were not ordinary household items.

Schliemann’s excavations revealed a remarkable trove of drinking vessels alongside a plethora of artifacts made from gold, silver, copper, and electrum, which he referred to as “Priam’s Treasure,” named after the mythical king of Troy. Although later analyses dated these treasures to about a millennium before the supposed era of the Trojan War, they do suggest a complex social structure that raises questions about wine consumption and its accessibility in ancient Troy.

To further explore whether wine was exclusively a drink for the affluent, researchers expanded their analysis to include common vessels discovered outside the citadel in the outer settlement of Troy, revealing that these items carried similar chemical signatures of wine.

“The evidence indicates that wine was consumed by the general populace of Troy as well,” Blum notes. This finding challenges long-held beliefs about wine being primarily a luxury for the elite during the early Bronze Age.

As research into ancient wine consumption continues, it becomes clear that many questions remain about the cultural significance of wine in Troy and its role in everyday life. “Schliemann was right in that the depas amphikypellon was used for drinking wine,” concludes Blum in his remarks for the Conversation. “However, whether this practice was tied to specific rituals, celebrations, or as a part of daily life still requires further investigation.”

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