Since its discovery during Heinrich Schliemann’s excavations at the legendary fortress city of Troy, the depas amphikypellon — a cylindrical goblet with two curved handles which is thought to be the goblet mentioned in Homer’s epics — has been considered a potential drinking vessel for wine. New investigations by archaeologists from the University of Tübingen, the University of Bonn and the University of Jena confirm this hypothesis by identifying high concentrations of fruit acids indicative of regular use specifically for wine — though these same acids were also found in cups and beakers from Troy. This raises questions regarding the social and cultural significance of the beverage: while previously perceived as an exclusive emblem of the Early Bronze Age elite, wine consumption may have been more widespread than previously assumed.
A 15-cm-tall depas amphikypellon excavated by Heinrich Schliemann at Troy. Image credit: Valentin Marquardt / University of Tübingen.
‘Hephaestus spoke, then stood up, passed a double goblet across to his dear mother,’ says the first book of the Iliad, recounting how the god of fire, metalworking and volcanoes encourages his mother.
‘As he spoke, the white-armed goddess Hera smiled. She reached for her son’s goblet.’
‘He poured the drink, going from right to left, for all the other gods, drawing off sweet nectar from the mixing bowl.’
This drinking vessel, the depas amphikypellon, is well-known to archaeologists.
The object is a slender clay goblet with two handles, narrowing to a pointed base.
Over one hundred such vessels from the period between 2500 and 2000 BCE have been found in Troy to date.
They are also scattered across the Aegean to Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, and can hold between 0.25 and 1 liter.
“Heinrich Schliemann already conjectured that the depas goblet was passed around at celebrations — just as described in the Iliad,” said Dr. Stephan Blum, an archaeologist at the University of Tübingen.
“The classical archaeology collection of the University of Tübingen holds a depas goblet and two fragments from Schliemann’s trove.”
In a new study, the researchers heated a 2-gram sample from the two fragments and studied the resulting mixture using gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectronomy (GC-MS).
“The evidence of succinic and pyruvic acids was conclusive: they only occur when grape juice ferments,” said Dr. Maxime Rageot, a researcher at the University of Bonn.
“So now we can state with confidence that wine was actually drunk from the depas goblets and not just grape juice.”
Wine was the most expensive drink in the Bronze Age and a depas goblet was the most precious vessel. Depas goblets have been found in temple and palace complexes.
So, scientists had deduced that wine drinking took place on special occasions in elite circles.
However, did people from the lower classes in Troy also drink wine as an everyday food and luxury?
“We’ve also chemical studied ordinary cups that were found in the outer settlement of Troy and therefore outside the citadel. These vessels also contained wine,” Dr. Blum said.
“So it is clear that wine was an everyday drink for the common people too.”
The team’s paper was published in the American Journal of Archaeology.
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Stephan W.E. Blum et al. 2025. The Question of Wine Consumption in Early Bronze Age Troy: Organic Residue Analysis and the Depas amphikypellon. American Journal of Archaeology 129 (2); doi: 10.1086/734061
