The Sumerians in Mesopotamia were already using scroll seals for labelling wine vessels 6,000 years ago. These were stone cylinders two to eight centimetres long and two centimetres thick. The inscription or images on them could be rolled onto soft clay. This was mainly information about the origin of the wine it contained. The Greeks and Romans attached small signs with information to the amphorae or carved information directly into the amphorae. Such tags were still used on wine vessels in the Middle Ages. Of course, fraudulent intentions were easily possible by "rehanging" them. Important information about the wine, such as the vintage or a producer's mark, was also applied to the cork by means of cork branding.
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