Ancient middle eastern farmers put wine before olives, study finds
Analysis of thousands of plant remains shows that Bronze and Iron Age farmers in the Levant invested scarce water into vineyards, highlighting wine’s cultural and economic importance.
Farmers in the Middle East thousands of years ago prioritised grapes over olives when deciding how to use limited water supplies, a new study from Department of Archaeology and Earth Sciences at Durham University has found.
Researchers examined more than 1,500 charred remains of grape and olive plants from archaeological sites across the Levant and northern Mesopotamia – an area covering modern-day Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Turkey and northern Iraq. The samples dated from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age, spanning roughly 5,000 to 2,600 years ago.
By measuring stable carbon isotopes – forms of carbon that do not decay over time – the team was able to track how much water was available to plants as they grew. The results showed that, from the Middle Bronze Age onwards, irrigation was more commonly used to support vineyards than olive groves, even in drier regions.
Evidence of irrigation
On average, grape seeds displayed carbon isotope values around 3.7‰ higher than olive stones, indicating better access to water, either through irrigation or favourable site selection. The difference suggests that grapes, which are more sensitive to drought during fruiting, received greater attention from farmers.
The data also highlighted a key rainfall threshold. Sites with less than 500 millimetres of annual precipitation showed clear signs that irrigation was needed to sustain grapes, while regions with more rainfall placed less stress on the vines.
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At several sites, including Tell Mozan, Qatna, Tell Tweini, Lachish and Tell Tayinat, grape remains from the Middle Bronze Age pointed to intensive watering practices. By contrast, olives – which are more drought-tolerant – were often grown in wetter areas during the Iron Age to maintain yields.
Cultural and economic value
The findings point to a deliberate choice by ancient farmers to commit resources to vineyards despite the extra labour and infrastructure required. Grapes ripen over a shorter period and are more exposed to dry months, making them riskier to grow than olives. Yet the evidence shows farmers were willing to take that risk.
“This research demonstrates that farmers in the Middle East thousands of years ago were making decisions about which crops to plant and how to manage them, balancing the risk of harvest failure with the effort needed to irrigate, and the likely demand for their products,” said Professor Dan Lawrence of the Department of Archaeology, senior author of the study. “It reminds us that people in the past were just as smart as people today, and that seemingly modern issues like resilience to climate change and the need to allocate resources carefully have long histories.”
Wine at the heart of society
The study, published in PLOS ONE, confirms that wine was not only part of daily life in the ancient Middle East, but also of sufficient economic and cultural importance to justify significant agricultural investment. Even thousands of years ago, the region’s farmers were adapting to climate variability and making careful decisions about how best to manage their crops.
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