TheTfirstTarchaeologicalTandTarchaeobotanicalTtestimoniesTforTwineTandTwinemaking,TdatingTbackTtoTc.T6000-5800TBCT(AncientTNeolithic)TwasTfoundTinTtheTterritoryTofTmodernTGeorgia.T18TBothTarchaeologicalTandTgeneticTevidenceTsuggestsTthatTtheTfirstTwineTproductionTelsewhereTwasTatTthatTtime,TprobablyTinTtheTSouthernTCaucasusT(coveringTArmenia,TGeorgiaTandTAzerbaijan)TorTinTtheTWestTAsiaTregionTbetweenTTurkeyTeasternTandTnorth-westernTIran.T19T20 TheTfirstTevidenceTofTaTfermentedTgrapeTdrinkTwasTfoundTinTChinaT(aroundT7000TBC),T2T3T4TGeorgiaTfromT6000TBC,T6T21T22TIranTfromT5000TBC,TT9TandTSicilyTfromT4000Tto.TC.T11TTheTfirstTevidenceTofTaTwineTproductionTplantTisTtheTAreni-1TwineryTinTArmeniaTandTatTleastT6,100TyearsTold.T23T12T13T24 DetailTofTaTreliefTofTtheTeasternTscaleTofTtheTAbadana,TPersepolis,TwhichTrepresentsTtheTArmeniansTwhoTcarryTanTamphora,TprobablyTwine,TtoTtheTking.AT2003TreportTbyTarchaeologistsTindicatesTtheTpossibilityTthatTtheTgrapesTwereTmixedTwithTriceTtoTproduceTmixedTfermentedTbeveragesTinTChinaTinTtheTearlyTseventhTmillenniumTBC.TTheTpotteryTvesselsTofTtheTNeolithicTsiteTofTJiahu,TinTHenan,TcontainedTtracesTofTtartaricTacidTandTotherTorganicTcompoundsTcommonlyTfoundTinTwine.THowever,TotherTnativeTfruitsTofTtheTregion,TsuchTasThawthorn,TcanTnotTbeTexcluded.T25T26TIfTtheseTdrinks,TwhichTappearTtoTbeTtheTprecursorsTofTriceTwine,TincludeTgrapesTinsteadTofTotherTfruits,TtheyTwouldThaveTbeenTanyTofTtheTnumerousTdozensTofTindigenousTwildTspeciesTinTChina,TinsteadTofTVitisTvinifera,TwhichTintroducedTthereT6000TyearsTafter.T25 TheTspreadTofTtheTwineTcultureTtoTtheTwestTwasTprobablyTdueTtoTtheTPhoeniciansTwhoTspreadTfromTaTcity-stateTbaseTalongTtheTMediterraneanTcoastTofTwhatTtodayTareTSyria,TLebanon,TIsraelTandTPalestine.T27TByblosTwinesTwereTexportedTtoTEgyptTduringTtheTOldTKingdomTandTthenTacrossTtheTMediterranean.TTheTevidenceTincludesTtwoTPhoenicianTshipwrecksTfromT750TBCTdiscoveredTbyTRobertTBallard,TwhoseTwineTloadTwasTstillTintact.T28TLikeTtheTfirstTgreatTwineTmerchantsT(cherem),TtheTPhoeniciansTseemTtoThaveTprotectedTitTfromToxidationTwithTaTlayerTofToliveToil,TfollowedTbyTaTpineTandTresinTsealTsimilarTtoTretsina.