An investigation has discovered on an island in Puerto Rico the oldest evidence of wine consumption detected in America, in a very old Spanish olive jar.
The research, ‘Molecular evidence of new ways of eating in the early colonial Caribbean’, published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, has also concluded that the culinary traditions of the indigenous Puerto Ricans endured after the arrival of the European settlers.
“We have found traces of wine in a very old Spanish olive jar, which constitutes the oldest evidence of wine consumption in America detected to date,” explained the director of the scientific analysis, Lisa Briggs, to EFE.
For a year and a half, the researchers analyzed the organic residues of 40 ceramic vessels from the early colonial period (between the late 15th and early 16th centuries) found on the island of Mona, a nature reserve located to the west of Puerto Rico.
“The detection of wine residues in one of the analyzed containers is important for two reasons: it is the first molecular evidence of wine in America to date and the discovery of the Spanish olive jar inside a cave raises the possibility that in the imported wine was consumed on the island,” the study noted.
The archaeologists highlight the relevance of the finding because either “if it was consumed by Europeans like the indigenous population, it is direct evidence of the importation of European wine to a small Caribbean island.”
The research was carried out to clarify aspects of cultural exchange between indigenous populations and the first generations of settlers in the Greater Antilles. Briggs explained that “despite changes in material culture, it appears that the culinary traditions remained the same” as “European-type foods simply were not sustainable in Mona Island’s climate and location.”
“The food that local people ate grew better in the area, was local (not imported) and therefore offered plenty and ample sources of nutrition,” said Briggs, an archaeologist at the Cranfield Forensic Institute in the UK.
Ceramic objects represent more than 90% of the cultural material recovered from archaeological sites in the Caribbean, according to the study. Likewise, Briggs affirmed that “the tradition of cooking plants in ceramics to accompany the proteins endured, as did the processing and consumption of cassava.”
“Although there is zooarchaeological evidence for the presence of cow and pig bones, we only found limited evidence,” said the archaeologist, adding that they found many “fish bones at the site.”
One of the conclusions drawn from the pilot study is that the indigenous people fed on local animals such as iguanas, crabs or manatees that they cooked roasted on a spit, in a pit or on a barbecue. “Local food and drink traditions deserve more attention, as they are fascinating and may inspire more sustainable ways of eating in the future,” concluded Briggs.
