Team makes distilled wine in replica of bronze vessel found at emperor’s tomb
Archaeologists conduct experiment to recreate distillation process from Western Han dynasty using replica still and taro
Chinese archaeologists have made distilled wine in a replica of a bronze vessel unearthed from an emperor’s tomb dating back 2,000 years – using taro and the same process believed to have been used at the time.
The team presented the results of their experiment on Thursday at a meeting attended by experts in Nanchang, in the eastern province of Jiangxi, where the emperor’s tomb is located, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
“This discovery is remarkable. It has recreated this product from the Western Han dynasty – from the selection of raw materials to the production process and the instrument,” said Zhang Zhongli, an archaeologist with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage who heads the tomb excavation project.
Distilled liquor is believed to date back to the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) in China, according to records in the ancient Chinese medical book Bencao Gangmu, or the Compendium of Materia Medica.
But the experiment with the replica vessel suggests the original could have been used to produce distilled alcohol – meaning distillation techniques could go as far back as the Western Han dynasty.
