Origins and Itineraries of Primitivo – part one.
it is an article by Mediterranea Online – mediterraneaonline.eu
The good propensity for journey of Primitivo grape…
The existence of grapes in Puglia is made before the relationships between native populations and the Phoenicians who went along with their ships along the coasts of the region from 2000 to. C. for commercial purposes.
The ancient sailors introduced in these lands new vines and techniques to make vine more effective and just as did the Illyrian people of the “Histri” that populated Istria, the Valley of the river Arsa and the bay of Kalavojna (name given later by Greeks: “kala” and “oenos” mean “good wine” in fact).
Around 1200 a. C. from Illyria, a region bathed by the Adriatic Sea corresponding to most of the Western Balkans, including Dalmatia, began the first migrations in Puglia, especially towards the southern area of Salento; the first Illyrian tribe to populate the region was that of the Japigi (from the name of Iapige son of Daedalus and head of the Cretans settled in Taranto, or of the son of Lycaon and brother of Dauno and Peucezio); to these people probably originating from Albania followed, in the seventh century. B.C. the subtribes of Peuceti and Dauni.
Between the ninth and tenth centuries BC new migratory flows of other tribes pushed towards Puglia as well as the Dorians: the Choni and the Messapi.
The latter were probably credited with a name inspired by the legend of Messapo, a Beota warlord, proving to be a branch of populations far more archaic than the Illyrians of which they were part, or at least had contact … the inhabitants of Boeotia and Euboea , whose lands were already famous for the renowned wines. However, according to the literary testimonies of Herodotus, the Messapians were supposed to come from Crete. However, strong of the language and of a civilization defined by customs and common customs the Messapi merged with the Japigi giving birth to the culture and the people of Messapia, the “Land between the two Seas” corresponding to the Murge and Salento, up to to be confused with them (Strabo is no coincidence that he considered Messapia and Japigia the same thing).
Although historical sources are uncertain, and the tribes of the Japigi and the Messapi are often considered a single ethnic group, born at the dawn of the great Indo-European migrations towards the Mediterranean area and their languages, the Illyrian and the Messapic, almost identical, to be equated with the aegean-anatolian phonetics. It is certain that new forms of viticulture were introduced in Puglia, as the Greeks did in the 8th century. a.C., with whom they maintained relations of mutual respect and cultural independence.
Between reality and legend, migrations and crossings of civilization, the primitive vines of Primitivo attested their presence in the Balkans and in the land of Japigia, the vast territory including Daunia, Peucezia and Messapia, surviving the time and the dominations that changed the face of the territories joined by the Adriatic Sea.
And the migrant vine with man brings civilization and knowledge for man everywhere takes root …
read also ORIGINS AND ITINERARIES OF PRIMITIVO – PART TWO (coming soon)
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