Discover the 380-Year-Old Wine Brewing Workshop Ruins Unearthed in China

Ahead of a road construction project, archaeologists explored a site in northern China.

Between June and November, a team of experts worked to excavate the site — and they discovered the ruins of an ancient wine-making workshop.

Archaeologists found three stoves, seven wells and two fermentation ponds, according to a March 6 news release from the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology shared via a post on Weibo. The structures were used to make wine and liquor during the Ming Dynasty, which lasted from 1368 until 1644.

The stoves were arranged in a line, experts said. One well-preserved example included an operating pit, a fire chamber and a grate.

The fire chamber exhibited an elliptical design, constructed out of bright blue bricks. It’s dimensions were approximately 3 feet in length, 1.5 feet in width, and 4 feet in depth.

In close proximity, a rounded well was present, utilized for gathering water to purify the materials needed for creating wine, as explained by the archaeologists. This well spanned roughly 4 feet in diameter and could reach a depth of nearly 23 feet. Notably, inside the remnants of porcelain tiles and building components could be found.

Interestingly, shards of vibrantly colored, patterned glazed porcelain bowls and cups, dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties were discovered both in the stoves and the wells, as mentioned by the officials.

Apart from these structures, experts occasionally stumbled upon a fermentation tank near the stove. This rectangular construct dimensioned about 10 feet in length, 8 feet in width, and 2 feet in depth.

Soil samples from inside the pit-like tank contained high levels of protein and acid residues connected to wine fermentation, archaeologists said.

Historical records from the Ming dynasty indicate that the process of making wine and liquor required the structures found at the site, officials said.

Google Translate and Baidu Translate were used to translate a news release from the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology.

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