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Ancient Olive Production and Uses: A Cultural and Historical Overview

Explore the origins, production methods, and diverse uses of olive oil in ancient civilizations like Greece and Rome. Discover the significance of olives in rituals, cooking, and trade throughout history.

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Ancient Olive Production and Uses: A Cultural and Historical Overview

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  1. Unguere: To Smear with Oil Lori Kissell FLAVA October 04, 2013

  2. Origin • Gift of Athena • Symbol of Attica/Athens • Never most important Attic crop and likely not primary export

  3. Production and Uses Production – growing -crushing -pressing -transporting Uses - -light -cooking -bodies -ritual

  4. Production • Growing: • Lower slopes of Apennines • Spain • Southern Gaul • Greece • Asiatic provinces • coastal Tripolitania and Cyrenaica • African provinces

  5. Production • Growing • Highly drought-resistant • Sensitive to frost • Usually crop every other year • Cuttings, ovules and grafts • Olives do not grow true to type from seeds • Table/oil varieties • Rarely mono-cultured

  6. Production • Growing • Combined with pastoralism • Harvested in autumn/winter • Greeks and Romans liked “white” olives for oil

  7. Production • Crushing • Packed in salt/saltwater first • Not edible raw • Crush first • Many devices known • Simplest – flat bed and stone roller, pestle, wooden sandals • Best is Roman trapetum

  8. Production • Crushing • Don’t crush stones – add bitter taste • Luxury/quality oil removed stones first or minimal crushing of stones • Machines existed for stone removal, questionable effectiveness • Crushed olives moved to frails, then to presses

  9. Production • Pressing • Simplest and most common press = beam • Weighted with rocks, human pulling • End fixed in wall as fulcrum • Weight pulled onto crushed olives in frails, pressing oil out

  10. Production • Pressing -Improvements to beam press incl. winch, lever and drum, better anchoring -Screw 1st assisted, then replaced beam -Direct screw press replaced beam 1st C. CE -Possible because of screw, screw nut 3rd C BCE --Pliny, screw extracts more, risks bitterness

  11. Production • Pressing • Separate oil and water • Romans ladle from top per Cato (Agr. 66) and Columella (Rust. 12.52-8-12) • Greeks more commonly use bottom spout method • Presscake remains, used for pig food and fertilizer

  12. Production • Transporting • Most olives raised and consumed locally • Oil keeps better, and is traded • Luxury oils for quality, taste, added flavorings traded like vintage wine

  13. Production • Transporting • Attica, Samos, Venafrum, Baetica, Cyrenaica all famous for oil • Stored and transported in large jars (dolia/pithoi) • Sold in amphorae • 2/3 sherds in Mt. Testaccio are olive oil amphorae • Peak in trade 140-165 CE

  14. Uses • Light • Lamps were pottery, bronze, gold, silver, iron, lead, ceramic • Single or multiple nozzle styles • Freestanding or suspended • Smokeless or minimal smoke

  15. Uses • Cooking • Roman recipes abound with olive oil • Dunk (morning) bread • Infuse with flavors – herbs? decadent?

  16. Uses • Bodies • Baths and strigils • Skin oils

  17. Uses Bodies • Perfumes

  18. Uses • Bodies • Medicaments

  19. Uses Ritual -Oil from sacred trees (moriai) given as prizes in Panathenaic Games

  20. Uses Ritual -Libations

  21. Uses • Roman wedding • Anoint couple’s new door with oil-soaked wool

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