Earliest Evidence of Wine Drinking in Americas Discovered in U.S. Territory

Scientists say they have uncovered on a Caribbean island what may be the earliest evidence of wine drinking in the Americas.

The discovery was made based on the analysis of ceramic artifacts discovered in Puerto Rico, a U.S. unincorporated territory, according to a study published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.

For their study, researchers examined the remains of pottery vessels from roughly 500 years ago found on Isla de Mona—a tiny island measuring about 7 by 4 miles. The small stretch of land is located between the Dominican Republic and the main island of Puerto Rico.

Isla de Mona, which today is largely uninhabited except for some researchers and rangers, is part of the U.S. territory. It is the third-largest island in the Puerto Rican archipelago.

The study's 40 ceramic pieces are both Indigenous and European in origin. The paper's results have shed light on dietary changes and cultural exchanges in the region before and after the arrival of European colonists, the researchers said.

Prior to Spanish colonization, Isla de Mona is thought to have been inhabited by the Indigenous Taíno population for more than 5,000 years.

In the early 16th century, the Spanish established a royal encomienda, or estate, on the island, enabling them to exploit Indigenous labor for the purposes of supplying food and textiles to its burgeoning mining industries across the region.

Among the ceramics that the researchers analyzed in the study was a Spanish olive jar thought to date between A.D. 1490 and 1520. The style of the jar indicates that it originates from around the time when Christopher Columbus documented the existence of Isla de Mona in 1494.

While the vessel is known as an olive jar, at the time these kinds of containers were used to transport a wide variety of food and drink products—including wine—aboard ships to the Americas.

Researchers examined the olive jar using molecular analysis methods and detected evidence of wine residue on it. This is the "earliest molecular evidence" for wine in the Americas yet detected, the researchers wrote in the study.

In addition, the discovery of the jar inside a cave—near a bronze bell thought to have been used in religious rites—raises the possibility that imported wine was being consumed on the island at this time.

"Whether consumed by Europeans or members of the indigenous population, this is direct evidence for the importation and drinking of European wine to a tiny island in the Caribbean shortly after the arrival of Spanish colonialists," the researchers said.

Besides the wine residue discovery, the study provides other insights into the culinary practices of people living in the region during the first decades of interaction between the native population and the early Spanish colonists.

For example, the researchers found evidence that the local Indigenous tradition of cooking on barbecues continued for some time despite the arrival of the colonizers. In fact, barbecue is derived from a Taíno word.

It is thought that the Taíno people in the region cooked fish and meat with charcoal over a raised grill. With no large mammals present in the area, the meat would likely have consisted of a large rodent-like animal known as a hutier, as well as iguanas. The tradition of the barbecuing technique was later adopted by early colonists.

"Two culinary worlds collided in the Caribbean over 500 years ago, driven by the early Spanish colonial impositions," Lisa Briggs, an author of the study who is a visiting researcher at the British Museum and a research fellow at the U.K.'s Cranfield University, said in a statement.

"We really didn't know much about the culinary heritage of this area and the influence of early colonialists on food traditions, so uncovering the discoveries [has] been really exciting," Briggs said.

She continued: "The strong culinary traditions of the Taino people in creating the barbecue held firm despite Spanish colonialism and influenced food right round the world. This continues today, as we are all familiar with a barbecue. I'm really pleased that this research shines a light on the cultural heritage of this community."