A glimpse into the viticulture of Roman Lusitania: morphometric analysis of charred grape pips from Torre dos Namorados, Portugal

The Roman site of Torre dos Namorados (Fundão, Beiras region, central Portugal) is a rare find, identified as a Roman vicus (village), with evidence of making wine and olive oil. During the archaeological campaigns of 2006–2007, a rectangular Roman lacus musti (must, grape juice, settling vat) was found, built with tegulae (tiles) and bricks and containing thousands of charred grape pips and skins. By using a stepwise linear discriminant analysis method, a morphological comparison was made of these archaeological grape pips and with a reference collection of modern pips, both from cultivated Portuguese varieties of Vitis vinifera L. ssp. vinifera and from wild vines of Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris, to study similarities between them. The modern grape pips were charred in order to obtain suitable material to compare with the archaeological pips. The statistical analysis showed a clear association between the archaeological grape pips and wild grapes, suggesting that these were used for making wine in Roman times. The data presented here represent the first systematic study of Roman viticulture in the Lusitanian province of Iberia.