The team of Professor Yang Yimin from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences recently cooperated with the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology. After the first discovery of essential oils in ancient Chinese cosmetics, the remains of liquid and silt were unearthed from the Zhou Dynasty Beibai Goose Cemetery in Yuanqu, Shanxi. The Chinese research found fruit wine residues, which not only fills the gap in fruit wine research in China during the pre-Qin period, but is also the earliest known archaeological evidence of fruit wine found in East Asia.

 Li Jingpu, a member of the research team and a graduate student of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was specifically responsible for the analysis of the remaining samples. On March 17th, he was interviewed by a reporter from China News Agency in the Beijing laboratory and said that he targeted the unearthed North White Goose Cemetery. About 7 liters of unidentified liquid and silt at the bottom of the vessel were found in the copper kettle. After sampling, the research team selected the relatively mature, reliable and easy-to-develop biomarker method in the analysis of alcohol residues as the research method, and designed a series of standardization The scientific analysis process, "the mystery of this batch of liquids that have been sleeping for 2,700 years has been unveiled": First, it is confirmed that some organic acids, esters, alcohol esters, sugars and other substances directly related to wine, as well as some plant substances Existence; The second is to analyze the volatile substances to confirm that it contains ethanol, ethyl acetate, etc.; the third is to determine the content of various organic acids such as syringic acid and tartaric acid in the residue.

 The results of the study showed that more volatile organic compounds such as ethanol, acetic acid, ethyl acetate, etc. were found in the copper pot residues in the North White Goose Cemetery, and there were more wine-related tartaric acid, syringic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, and succinic acid. A variety of organic acids such as oxalic acid, lactic acid and some larger molecular weight esters, alcohols, alcohol esters and sugars have confirmed that they are indeed the remains of ancient wines.

 Li Jingpu pointed out that organic acids such as tartaric acid and oxalic acid are found in rice wine, beer, and fruit wine, and should not be used as a basis for judging the type of wine. In the copper pot liquor residues and soil samples in this study, it is generally found that more of them are from mallow. The syringic acid of the pigment indicates that it is the remains of fruit wine.

"We think it is the fruit wine drunk by the nobles during the pre-Qin period. This is the earliest known fruit wine remains in East Asia."

 Professor Yang Yimin said that the remains of fruit wine unearthed from the Beibaige Cemetery filled the gap in fruit wine research in the pre-Qin period from a physical point of view. This not only provided important information for the study of the politics, ritual system, culture, and funeral customs of the society at that time, but also for research. China's wine-making technology and the development of the wine-making industry provide important scientific information.

 The remaining samples of fruit wine unearthed from the Beibai'e Cemetery “smelt like the smell of grass after rain.” Li Jingpu said that one of the Zhou cemeteries sampled in this study was a tomb of a female nobleman. “We speculate that women also drank fruit wine at that time. We will continue to strengthen research to see if we can recover this kind of fruit wine."

(Reporter Sun Zifa)

Editor in charge: [Liu Xian]