(TDB) - US archaeologists have discovered what could be the ancestor of Chianti’s famous wine style in the form of 500 waterlogged grape seeds.

Dating back to the third century BC, the grape seeds were discovered at the bottom of a 105-foot well in Cetamura, an ancient hilltop near Gaiole in Chianti, by a team of US scientists who have been excavating the site for the last four years.

The grape seeds were found perfectly preserved in at least three levels of the well which dates back to the Etruscan and Roman eras in Tuscany, with scientists hopeful the seeds can provide key insights into the history of viticulture in the region.

Nancy de Grummond, professor of classics at Florida State and leader of the excavation said the seeds could provide a “key to the history of wine in ancient Tuscany” from the third century BCE to the first century CE, adding their their “excellent preservation” would allow for both DNA testing and carbon dating.

Many of the seeds have already been analysed at the University of Naples Federico II using a program initially designed for tomato seeds.

So far, three types have been identified, with more likely to emerge from further analysis, particularly of the seeds found in Etruscan levels of the well this year.

Other items uncovered at the site included 14 Roman and Etruscan bronze vessels, one of which was used as a “wine bucket”, and an enormous amount of rare waterlogged wood from both Roman and Etruscan times.

“One of the Etruscan vessels, actually a wine bucket, is finely tooled and decorated with figurines of the marine monster Skylla,” de Grummond said.