The discovery pushes the time table for olive oil production in Italy back more than 700 years earlier than previously thought.
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.
βThe shape of this storΒage conΒtainer and the nearby sepΒtum was like nothΒing else Voza found at the site in Castelluccio,β Tanasi said.
βIt 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.β
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.
βThe 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,β 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.
βThe 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]βββmills and olive pressΒing vesΒselsβββand archaeobΒotanΒiΒcal perΒspecΒtives: pollen, olives, wood and leaves,β he said.
The results from the study were pubΒlished earΒlier this month in the jourΒnal Analytical Methods.
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