The Olive Pit and Roman Oil Making
The importance of olive oil in the ancient Mediterranean world can hardly be exaggerated: from lighting to diet and cosmetics, no other oil came close to the olive's multitudinous usages. The significance of olive oil contrasts with how historians often demonstrate their ignorance about its pro...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Scholars Press
1996
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| In: |
The Biblical archaeologist
Year: 1996, Volume: 59, Issue: 3, Pages: 171-178 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The importance of olive oil in the ancient Mediterranean world can hardly be exaggerated: from lighting to diet and cosmetics, no other oil came close to the olive's multitudinous usages. The significance of olive oil contrasts with how historians often demonstrate their ignorance about its production. Case in point: the repeated assertion that Roman oil manufacturers pitted their olives before crushing them. The authors debunk this notion in their reconstruction of Roman oil production and its specialized tools, examining modern oil production in the process. Since the idea of Roman olive pitting arises in part from Roman writers like Cato who felt that to crush the pit was to ruin the flavor of the oil, the authors add an experimental dimension to their investigation as well. Variously prepared oils are put to the taste test. Can even the connoisseur tell the difference between oils produced with or without crushing the pit? |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Biblical archaeologist
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3210548 |