Around 670 years ago, wine was pressed here by the weight of oak wood: in a village about 15 kilometers east of Stuttgart, archaeologists have discovered the remains of what is apparently the oldest known tree press facility in Baden-Württemberg. In addition to the traces of this construction, the remains of grape marc from the 14th century also bear witness to medieval wine production in southern Germany, reports the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Stuttgart Regional Council (LAD).
The view is directed towards the village of Kleinheppach, which is still located between vineyards in the valley of the Rems river, which flows into the Neckar a few kilometers to the west. It was already known that the tradition of South German viticulture there goes back a long way: it is attested in historical sources for 1284. At the beginning of the history of the find, which is now also documented archaeologically, there was the demolition of a wine press in Kleinheppach, which dates from the 18th century. Before the new building was built, an archaeological investigation was to be carried out to determine whether the remains of a much older predecessor were slumbering in the ground. Because there were indications of this: Written sources from 1581 speak of an “old wine press” in Kleinheppach, whose former location was not known until now.
As the investigations of the LAD archaeologists showed, the excavation site was apparently actually the traditional site of the wine-pressing facility of the wine village: they found traces of several previous buildings as well as traces of various functional elements. The oldest were the remains of a wooden structure that has fortunately survived over the centuries. It became apparent that two mighty, rectangular oak beams had once been set up and wedged in a pit – a so-called Dockenloch. According to the archaeologists, it can be assumed that they carried a trunk.
Heavy wood crushed grapes
This in turn shows that it is the remains of a tree press system. According to this, the wooden construction found probably represents the former so-called back dock of this form of a press. Together with the front dock, another pair of beams, it fixed a heavy tree trunk. Due to its weight, pressure was applied to the material to be pressed according to the principle of the one-armed lever. Such tree press systems were still used for juicing wine or fruit well into the 20th century.
In order to clarify the period from which the remains of the construction in Kleinheppach date, the wood from which both beams of the rear dock were made was examined by dendrologists from the LAD. They succeeded in chronologically locating the last annual ring and thus dating the felling of the oak tree to shortly after 1344. The oak woods thus represent parts of what is now the oldest known tree press in Baden-Württemberg.
Remains of pomace with potential for archaeology
As the LAD further reports, extensive areas with numerous uniform pits next to the wine press building also attracted the attention of archaeologists. They are located at the foot of the slope of the “Kleinheppacher Kopf”, which still has vines today. As it turned out, waste from the medieval tree press plant was apparently deposited there: the archaeologists discovered the well-preserved residue of grape residues that are produced during pressing – so-called pomace.
Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the material dates from the 14th century. This pomace is the oldest found in southern Germany so far, writes the LAD. The material includes numerous grape seeds, parts of the grape stalks and skins. These remains, in turn, have exciting potential for further research into the history of wine culture in southern Germany: The LAD concludes that the variety and degree of breeding of the grapes are to be determined on the basis of various analyses.
Source: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Stuttgart Regional Council