KARABÜK, TURKEY—Hürriyet Daily News reports that excavators working at the site of the ancient city of Hadrianopolis, which is located in Turkey’s Black Sea region, uncovered a bronze object thought to have been used to filter beverages in the fifth century A.D. The artifact measures about three and one-half inches long, and is conical in shape with small perforations, explained Ersin Çelikbaş of Karabük University. “The carrying loop on it indicates that the object was not single use,” he added. The bronze filter would have been attached to a reed straw for drinking juices and other beverages made from the pomegranates, apples, pears, grapes, barley, and wheat cultivated at the site, Çelikbaş concluded. To read about spirits in the ancient world, go to "Alcohol Through the Ages."
