Archaeologists Discover an Ancient Wine Press Older Than the Pyramids

Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered extraordinary artifacts, including a 5,000-year-old winepress and a 3,300-year-old animal-shaped vessel.

Archaeological excavations connected to a highway development project in northern Israel, east of the ancient city of Megiddo, have shed light on the area’s Bronze Age history and Canaanite people—the communities that lived in the Levant starting around 3,000 BCE. The discoveries provide insight into early wine production as well as potential Canaanite rituals.

“Megiddo has been excavated for over a century,” the researchers explained in a statement by the Israel Antiquities Authority. “While it is long-recognized as a key site in the study of ancient urbanism and Canaanite worship, the excavations we conducted east of the tel have revealed a new part of the matrix between the known settlement in the city—evidence of which has been revealed upon the tel—and the activities taking place in the area around and outside the city.” A tel is a mound that represents the location of an ancient city.