The Near East and the Caucasus are commonly regarded as the original domestication centres of Vitis vinifera (grapevine), and the region continues to be home to a high diversity of wild and cultivated grapevines, particularly within Georgia. The earliest chemical evidence for wine making was recorded in Georgian Neolithic sites (6000–5800 bc) and grape pips, possibly of the domesticated morphotype, have been reported from several sites of about the same period. We performed geometric morphometric and palaeogenomic investigations of grape pip samples in order to identify the appearance of domesticated grapevine and explore the changes in cultivated diversity in relation to modern varieties. We systematically investigated charred and uncharred grape pip samples from Georgian archaeological sites. Their chronology was thoroughly assessed by direct radiocarbon dating. More than 500 grape pips from 14 sites from the Middle Bronze Age to modern times were selected for geometric morphometric studies. The shapes of the ancient pips were compared to hundreds of modern wild individuals and cultivated varieties. Degraded DNA was isolated from three pips from two sites, converted to Illumina libraries, sequenced at approximately 10,000 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites, and compared to a large public database of grapevine diversity. The most ancient pip dates from the Middle Bronze Age (1900–1500 cal bc) and the domesticated morphotype is identified from ca. 1000 bc onwards. A great diversity of domesticated shapes was regularly seen in the samples. Most are close to modern cultivars from the Caucasian, southwest Asian and Balkan areas, which suggests that the modern local vine diversity is deeply rooted in early viticulture. DNA was successfully recovered from historic pips and genome-wide analyses found close parental relationships to modern Georgian cultivars.

近东和高加索地区通常被认为是葡萄（Vitis vinifera）（葡萄树）的原始驯化中心，该地区仍是野生和栽培葡萄藤（尤其是佐治亚州）种类繁多的家。酿酒最早的化学证据被记录在格鲁吉亚的新石器时代遗址（6000-5800 BC）和葡萄点（可能是驯化的形态），已在大约同一时期的几个地点报道过。我们对葡萄籽粒样品进行了几何形态和古基因组学研究，以鉴定驯化的葡萄树的外观，并探索与现代品种相关的栽培多样性的变化。我们系统地调查了来自乔治亚时期考古遗址的烧焦和未烧焦的葡萄果渣样本。通过直接放射性碳测年彻底评估了它们的年代。从中古铜时代到现代，从14个地点中选取了500多个葡萄点进行几何形态学研究。将古代点的形状与数百种现代野生个体和栽培品种进行了比较。从两个位置的三个点分离出降解的DNA，转换为Illumina库，在大约10,000个单核苷酸多态性（SNP）位点进行测序，并与大型葡萄多样性公共数据库进行比较。最古老的点可追溯到青铜器中期（1900–1500 calbc），并从ca鉴定出驯化的形态。1000 BC起。在样本中经常看到各种各样的驯化形状。大多数葡萄藤接近高加索，西南亚和巴尔干地区的现代葡萄栽培品种，这表明现代当地葡萄的多样性深深植根于早期的葡萄栽培。从历史悠久的点中成功地回收了DNA，对全基因组的分析发现，它们与现代格鲁吉亚品种有密切的亲缘关系。