Ancient DNA Traces Iberian Wine Grapes to the Eastern Mediterranean
Researchers analyzed 28 grape seeds from seven archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula and Sardinia to trace the region’s early wine grapes. The oldest seeds with domesticated-like morphology, found in southwestern Spain and dated to about 1,000 BCE, carried nuclear and chloroplast DNA signatures associated with Eastern Mediterranean cultivars. Later Iron Age seeds suggest that introduced vines crossed with local wild grapevines. The study also found evidence of long continuity: a medieval seed was genetically linked to the modern Iberian variety Heben, which the researchers say has been propagated for at least 1,100 years. The findings offer a more direct view of how grape lineages moved and changed than modern DNA alone can provide. The researchers conclude that some present-day Iberian cultivars may be only a few sexual generations removed from the early founders, with clonal propagation preserving their lineages over time. Map note: Site dots are approximate. The dashed line represents an inferred genetic connection, not a documented sailing route. Image note: Modern grape seeds from Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache berries, used as an illustration; they are not the archaeological seeds analyzed in the study. Photo by Agne27, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Source: Pérez-Jordà et al., “Eastern origin and three-millennia persistence of a founding grapevine lineage in Iberian viticulture,” Current Biology, published October 19, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.039
Researchers analyzed 28 grape seeds from seven archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula and Sardinia to trace the region’s early wine grapes. The oldest seeds with domesticated-like morphology, found in southwestern Spain and dated to about 1,000 BCE, carried nuclear and chloroplast DNA signatures associated with Eastern Mediterranean cultivars. Later Iron Age seeds suggest that introduced vines crossed with local wild grapevines. The study also found evidence of long continuity: a medieval seed was genetically linked to the modern Iberian variety Heben, which the researchers say has been propagated for at least 1,100 years. The findings offer a more direct view of how grape lineages moved and changed than modern DNA alone can provide. The researchers conclude that some present-day Iberian cultivars may be only a few sexual generations removed from the early founders, with clonal propagation preserving their lineages over time. Map note: Site dots are approximate. The dashed line represents an inferred genetic connection, not a documented sailing route. Image note: Modern grape seeds from Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache berries, used as an illustration; they are not the archaeological seeds analyzed in the study. Photo by Agne27, CC BY-SA 3.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Source: Pérez-Jordà et al., “Eastern origin and three-millennia persistence of a founding grapevine lineage in Iberian viticulture,” Current Biology, published October 19, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.08.039
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