Archaeologists Discover Ancient Olive Oil in Italy

The discovery pushes the time table for olive oil production in Italy back more than 700 years earlier than previously thought.

Credit: Polo Regionale di Siracusa per i siti e musei archeologici Museo Paolo Orsi
By Daniel Dawson
Jun. 1, 2018 13:53 UTC
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Credit: Polo Regionale di Siracusa per i siti e musei archeologici Museo Paolo Orsi

A team of researchers from the University of South Florida has disΒ­covΒ­ered olive oil residue on potΒ­sherds datΒ­ing back to the Bronze Age.

The sherds were disΒ­covΒ­ered by Italian archaeΒ­olΒ­oΒ­gist Giuseppe Voza, while he was excaΒ­vatΒ­ing a site in Sicily back in the 1990s. Two decades later, conΒ­serΒ­vaΒ­tors from the Archaeological Museum of Siracusa reconΒ­structed the pot.

The results obtained with the three samΒ­ples from Castelluccio become the first chemΒ­iΒ­cal eviΒ­dence of the oldΒ­est olive oil in Italian preΒ­hisΒ­tory, pushΒ­ing back the hands of the clock for the sysΒ­temΒ­atic olive oil proΒ­ducΒ­tion by at least 700β€―years.- Davide Tanasi, University of South Florida

Davide Tanasi, an assisΒ­tant proΒ­fesΒ­sor of hisΒ­tory at the University of South Florida, noticed that the pot had an unusual shape and decided to run residue tests on its inteΒ­rior to deterΒ­mine its purΒ­pose.

β€œThe shape of this storΒ­age conΒ­tainer and the nearby sepΒ­tum was like nothΒ­ing else Voza found at the site in Castelluccio,” Tanasi said.

β€œIt had the sigΒ­naΒ­ture of Sicilian tableΒ­ware dated to the end of the third and beginΒ­ning of the secΒ­ond milΒ­lenΒ­nium BCE. We wanted to learn how it was used, so we conΒ­ducted chemΒ­iΒ­cal analyΒ­sis on organic residues found inside.”

The reconΒ­structed pot, along with two other samΒ­ples thought to have been used for a related purΒ­pose, were found with other cookΒ­ing impleΒ­ments at the site in the hilly, southΒ­eastΒ­ern region of Sicily. The site is widely conΒ­sidΒ­ered a type-site in archaeΒ­oΒ­logΒ­iΒ­cal litΒ­erΒ­aΒ­ture, meanΒ­ing it is repΒ­reΒ­senΒ­taΒ­tive of the culΒ­ture of a cerΒ­tain time and peoΒ­ple.

Both this conΒ­text and pecuΒ­liar shape of the vesΒ­sels made Tanasi and his team eager to figΒ­ure out what might have been stored within them.

The team of archaeΒ­olΒ­oΒ­gists used gas chroΒ­matogΒ­raΒ­phy and mass specΒ­tromΒ­eΒ­try to deterΒ­mine the chemΒ­iΒ­cal sigΒ­naΒ­tures of the organic residues found on all three of the samΒ­ples. The team then deterΒ­mined the age of the potΒ­sherds using nuclear magΒ­netic resΒ­oΒ­nance testΒ­ing.

The results of the first two tests showed oleic and linoleic acids, both of which are sigΒ­naΒ­tures of olive oil, were found in the organic residue. The nuclear magΒ­netic resΒ­oΒ­nance testΒ­ing deterΒ­mined that the sherds were from the early Bronze Age.

β€œThe results obtained with the three samΒ­ples from Castelluccio become the first chemΒ­iΒ­cal eviΒ­dence of the oldΒ­est olive oil in Italian preΒ­hisΒ­tory, pushΒ­ing back the hands of the clock for the sysΒ­temΒ­atic olive oil proΒ­ducΒ­tion by at least 700β€―years,” Tanasi said.

Previously, the oldΒ­est idenΒ­tiΒ­fied chemΒ­iΒ­cal sigΒ­naΒ­tures of olive oil in Italy were disΒ­covΒ­ered on storΒ­age jars in Cosenza and Lecce in southΒ­ern Italy, and dated back to the twelfth and eleventh cenΒ­tury BCE, respecΒ­tively.

Chemical sigΒ­naΒ­tures of olive oil datΒ­ing back to the secΒ­ond and third milΒ­lenΒ­nium BCE have also been idenΒ­tiΒ­fied on samΒ­ples of potΒ­sherds from Crete. However, eviΒ­dence of even older olive oil proΒ­ducΒ­tion in the Mediterranean has been found by more traΒ­diΒ­tional archaeΒ­oΒ­logΒ­iΒ­cal methΒ­ods, accordΒ­ing to Tanasi.

β€œThe earΒ­liΒ­est olive culΒ­tiΒ­vaΒ­tion and olive oil proΒ­ducΒ­tion in the Mediterranean, datΒ­ing back to the Copper Age for some case studΒ­ies in Israel, is usuΒ­ally well docΒ­uΒ­mented just from archaeΒ­oΒ­logΒ­iΒ­cal [methΒ­ods] — mills and olive pressΒ­ing vesΒ­sels — and archaeobΒ­otanΒ­iΒ­cal perΒ­specΒ­tives: pollen, olives, wood and leaves,” he said.

The results from the study were pubΒ­lished earΒ­lier this month in the jourΒ­nal Analytical Methods.





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