DNA from 2,000-year-old grapes has been found in wells in Tuscany

The discovery was made in Cetamura del Chianti, an ancient hilltop settlement in Tuscany.

Between around 300 BC and 300 AD, local residents discarded grape seeds into deep wells. In the oxygen-free, moist mud, they were preserved so well that researchers were able to read their DNA.

The main surprise is that most of the seeds studied belonged to the same grape variety. According to the researchers, it may have been passed down from the Etruscans to the Romans and preserved over the centuries.

Details

The team studied 80 ancient grape seeds from Cetamura. This is one of the most comprehensive genetic samples of ancient grapes obtained from a single archaeological site. The analysis revealed not a chaotic mix of different vines, but a history of continuity: one variety clearly dominated for a long time.

The scientists were able to determine not only the kinship of the ancient vines, but also the likely colour of the berries. Genetic markers showed that the main ancient clone produced white grapes. This is unexpected for Chianti: today the region is known primarily for its red wines based on the Sangiovese variety, although white varieties are also grown there.

After the settlement came under Roman rule, new grape varieties appeared in Cetamura. The authors attribute this to the expansion of the Roman agricultural and trade system: vines could have been transported along with people, technologies and winemaking practices.

One of the ancient samples turned out to be linked to a group of grapes that is still found in Central and Eastern Europe. Its closest modern ‘relative’ was identified as the rare Hungarian Baratcsuha szurke. The researchers have also linked this lineage to a 400-year-old vine from Maribor in Slovenia, which is said to be the oldest fruit-bearing grapevine in the world.

Why this is important

Ancient winemaking is usually studied through amphorae, wine presses, beverage residues and written sources. Here, however, the scientists obtained direct genetic material from the vines themselves. This allows us to see not only that people drank wine, but also what plants they grew.

The discovery helps us understand how viticulture changed during the transition from the Etruscan to the Roman world. If a single variety survived for centuries, it means it wasn’t simply grown by chance — it was maintained, propagated and considered valuable.

Background

Chetamura del Chianti is an archaeological site in Tuscany that has been studied for decades. According to the 50th anniversary programme of research at Cetamura, the Etruscans arrived at this site by the 7th century BC; around 300 BC, a deep well was dug here, and there were vineyards near the settlement: this is evidenced by thousands of waterlogged grape seeds found in two wells.

Oya Inanli’s doctoral research at the University of York also describes work with ancient grape seeds from Cetamura: it combined ancient DNA analysis, morphometry, spectroscopy and radiocarbon dating to trace viticulture from the Etruscan to the Roman period. This study notes that genetic links to modern varieties are limited, so many ancient cultivars may have disappeared.

This is precisely why the new work is important not only for wine lovers. It demonstrates how archaeology and genetics can reconstruct the history of agriculture: which plants people chose, how long they cultivated them, and how imperial connections altered local traditions.

Source

The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2026. A press release from the University of York, published on Phys.org, states that scientists analysed the DNA of 80 grape seeds from ancient wells in Chiamura del Chianti and identified the dominance of a single long-lived white grape clone, which persisted from Etruscan to Roman times.