One hundred fifty years have passed since the first published reference in modern Western scholarship to ancient wine production in the Negev Highland desert, and much is now known about its hydrological, climatic, agricultural, economic, social and political context. Yet, in 2020 two studies reached opposite conclusions regarding the extent and intensity of Negev Highland viticulture, its relationship to Byzantine ‘Gaza wine’ and the associated regional wine trade. This raises wider questions on how to evaluate apparently conflicting archaeological evidence for ancient microregional production and trade, with relevance to longstanding debates on the nature of the ancient Mediterranean economy and the onset of the Middle Ages in Europe. We survey previous research on Negev Highland viticulture, including the two most recent papers, demonstrating problems of equifinality in the calculations- based approach to ancient production/consumption, and clarifying our own position regarding the relationship between archaeologically attested Negev viticulture and ‘Gaza wine’ of Late Antique historical texts. We then analyse additional sources of new evidence contributing to a more holistic synthesis of Negev Highland wine production and trade. At this sesquicentennial commemoration of Negev viticulture’s historiography, we close with unresolved issues and promising directions for future research. 1

中文翻译：

---

古代晚期关于内盖夫葡萄栽培和加沙葡萄酒的辩论

自从现代西方学术首次发表关于内盖夫高地沙漠古代葡萄酒生产的参考文献以来，已经过去了 150 年，现在人们对其水文、气候、农业、经济、社会和政治背景有了很多了解。然而，在 2020 年，关于内盖夫高地葡萄栽培的范围和强度、其与拜占庭“加沙葡萄酒”的关系以及相关的区域葡萄酒贸易，两项研究得出了相反的结论。这引发了更广泛的问题，即如何评估古代微区域生产和贸易的明显相互矛盾的考古证据，这与关于古代地中海经济性质和欧洲中世纪开始的长期争论有关。我们调查了以前关于内盖夫高地葡萄栽培的研究，包括最近的两篇论文，在基于计算的古代生产/消费方法中展示了等定性问题，并阐明了我们自己对考古证实的内盖夫葡萄栽培与晚期古董历史文献中的“加沙葡萄酒”之间关系的立场。然后，我们分析了有助于更全面地综合内盖夫高地葡萄酒生产和贸易的新证据的其他来源。在这个内盖夫葡萄栽培史学百年纪念活动中，我们以未解决的问题和未来研究的有希望的方向结束。1 然后，我们分析了有助于更全面地综合内盖夫高地葡萄酒生产和贸易的新证据的其他来源。在这个内盖夫葡萄栽培史学百年纪念活动中，我们以未解决的问题和未来研究的有希望的方向结束。1 然后，我们分析了有助于更全面地综合内盖夫高地葡萄酒生产和贸易的新证据的其他来源。在这个内盖夫葡萄栽培史学百年纪念活动中，我们以未解决的问题和未来研究的有希望的方向结束。1