History
When and where someone had the first inclination to squeeze olives and use the oil is not really known with any certainty. Some fossilized leaves have been found in human settlements dating back a million years in the Tertiary Region, near Bologna attesting to the presence of an ancestor of the olive tree. On the French Riviera, near Menton, olive pits were found in Paleolithic sites, 3500-8000 years before the Christian era. During the Neolithic Era (8000-2700 BC) the presence of olives were discovered in the Iberian Peninsula. During this same period evidence was also discovered that attest to the cultivation of olive trees in Puglia. In 2500 BC The Babylonian Code of Hammurabi regulated the manufacture and trade of olive oil in the "fertile crescent," the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates. Fossils found near Lake Garda, during the Bronze Age (1500-1000 BC), shows that olives were used as food. Before the Nineteenth Dynasty (1292-1186 BC), oil was traded along the banks of the Nile and used as a key product for embalming.
The history of this plant dates back to the dawn of many human civilizations.
The domestic olive ancestor is not truly known. The most reliable theories suggest that today’s olive tree is the result of a hybrid formed in the eastern Mediterranean between two different species, only one of which is positively known. The Oleaster Olea Sylvestris which still grows wild in North Africa and has the characteristic elongated leaf is the closest related ancestor. The olive trees spread to Egypt and then to Crete, where olive cultivation became the backbone of the local economy. In the palace of Knossos huge deposits were discovered containing amphorae for storing and transportation of valuable products. Clay tablets recovered from excavations speak extensively of orchards and olive groves while a ledger at the administration building relates to the olive production, destinations, and prices depending on the quality of the olives. Olives during this time may have been used for medical purposes or even in the bartering system.
After the decline of Crete, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians brought oil and olive trees throughout the Mediterranean basin. Thanks to its versatility, olive oil was used in detergent, fuel, oil, cosmetics, food and many other commodities. And who to thank for this valuable product but the Gods? A dispute arose over which God, Neptune or Athena, should be the first to found a city in Attica and be named its God and protector. Each God presented gifts, Athena struck the ground and produced an Olive Tree and Neptune provided the people with horses. The people favored the Goddess Athena’s gift of the olive tree as a gift of peace and judged it more worthy than that of the horse from Neptune, as it was a gift of war. The city was then named Athens. Oils extracted from the olive trees planted around the Parthenon were awarded to the winners of the Olympics. The Athenians also used the branches of the olive tree to weave wreaths for their heroes. From Athens this traveled all the way to Rome and even the Emperors encircled their heads with olive branches to symbolize their triumph.
With the Roman Empire the olive tree spread throughout the Mediterranean basin systematically. Roman soldiers all over the empire were given daily allowances of bread, wine and oil. Refined Roman tables were distinguished with the light oils of Liguria and Marche and savory oils of Sabina. The more heavy oils from the Iberian Peninsula and Africa were used for lamps. In Rome, there were negotiators of olive oil within the financial stock of oil. They established prices, quality, and quantity of the olive oil contained in the amphora trade vessels. These vessels were specially designed to cram as many pitchers as possible to be carried throughout the empire.
There were five classifications of olive oil depending on the ripeness and health of the olives. The first of which, called ex albis ulivis, is supplied from the green olive before the process of maturation. The full maturity of the green olive fruit juice provides a denser and less pleasant taste to the oil. The other classifications are: viride extracted from olives that are blackened in December, the maturum obtained from the pressing of ripe olives, the caducum from the olives that have fallen to the ground, and the cibarium which were the bug infested olives that was used for lighting and given to the slaves.
During the barbarian invasions life in the countryside became increasingly dangerous and subsequently the disintegration of agriculture subsides and the cultivation of olive trees became more marginal due to changing dietary habits. Characteristic of northern life the people survived more on animal fats, lard, and butter. As a result, most of the olive trees and orchards were encased within convents and fortified estates. For many centuries olive oil became rare and precious and in some cases could be used as cash.
The thirteenth century heralded an agricultural revival and the olive finally began to arouse the interest of landowners who sought to use olive oil as a source of income. Production increased and oil was supplied to areas like Genoa and Venice, which until then, imported oil from the Mediterranean Islands and North Africa. This caused fighting between the producers over the domestic oil business. The Medici Government of Florence supported the olive oil business, giving a strong boost to the trade and propelling the oil business to all parts of Italy.
In centuries to come the cultivation of the olives had a succession of ups and downs. Government leaders would favor substantial funding for planting new plants and the increase of olive production, and then they would require farmers to pay taxes so great that the farmers were either forced to abandon the plants or even cut them down.
During World War I people discovered that wood used with oil could replace the failed coal factories in the north giving way to the cutting of thousands of trees throughout the Peninsula. And in the 1960’s flying advertisements favored the use of seed oils and also increasingly helped marginalize the use of olive oil.
In recent years a new horizon has opened up in favor of extra virgin olive oils for unparalleled organic characteristics. Adding to the merits of the Mediterranean cuisine, of which olive oil is a main ingredient, medical dieticians support its use and provide information of the nutritional value and properties of olive oil as a part of a healthy diet.
The history of this plant dates back to the dawn of many human civilizations.
The domestic olive ancestor is not truly known. The most reliable theories suggest that today’s olive tree is the result of a hybrid formed in the eastern Mediterranean between two different species, only one of which is positively known. The Oleaster Olea Sylvestris which still grows wild in North Africa and has the characteristic elongated leaf is the closest related ancestor. The olive trees spread to Egypt and then to Crete, where olive cultivation became the backbone of the local economy. In the palace of Knossos huge deposits were discovered containing amphorae for storing and transportation of valuable products. Clay tablets recovered from excavations speak extensively of orchards and olive groves while a ledger at the administration building relates to the olive production, destinations, and prices depending on the quality of the olives. Olives during this time may have been used for medical purposes or even in the bartering system.
After the decline of Crete, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians brought oil and olive trees throughout the Mediterranean basin. Thanks to its versatility, olive oil was used in detergent, fuel, oil, cosmetics, food and many other commodities. And who to thank for this valuable product but the Gods? A dispute arose over which God, Neptune or Athena, should be the first to found a city in Attica and be named its God and protector. Each God presented gifts, Athena struck the ground and produced an Olive Tree and Neptune provided the people with horses. The people favored the Goddess Athena’s gift of the olive tree as a gift of peace and judged it more worthy than that of the horse from Neptune, as it was a gift of war. The city was then named Athens. Oils extracted from the olive trees planted around the Parthenon were awarded to the winners of the Olympics. The Athenians also used the branches of the olive tree to weave wreaths for their heroes. From Athens this traveled all the way to Rome and even the Emperors encircled their heads with olive branches to symbolize their triumph.
With the Roman Empire the olive tree spread throughout the Mediterranean basin systematically. Roman soldiers all over the empire were given daily allowances of bread, wine and oil. Refined Roman tables were distinguished with the light oils of Liguria and Marche and savory oils of Sabina. The more heavy oils from the Iberian Peninsula and Africa were used for lamps. In Rome, there were negotiators of olive oil within the financial stock of oil. They established prices, quality, and quantity of the olive oil contained in the amphora trade vessels. These vessels were specially designed to cram as many pitchers as possible to be carried throughout the empire.
There were five classifications of olive oil depending on the ripeness and health of the olives. The first of which, called ex albis ulivis, is supplied from the green olive before the process of maturation. The full maturity of the green olive fruit juice provides a denser and less pleasant taste to the oil. The other classifications are: viride extracted from olives that are blackened in December, the maturum obtained from the pressing of ripe olives, the caducum from the olives that have fallen to the ground, and the cibarium which were the bug infested olives that was used for lighting and given to the slaves.
During the barbarian invasions life in the countryside became increasingly dangerous and subsequently the disintegration of agriculture subsides and the cultivation of olive trees became more marginal due to changing dietary habits. Characteristic of northern life the people survived more on animal fats, lard, and butter. As a result, most of the olive trees and orchards were encased within convents and fortified estates. For many centuries olive oil became rare and precious and in some cases could be used as cash.
The thirteenth century heralded an agricultural revival and the olive finally began to arouse the interest of landowners who sought to use olive oil as a source of income. Production increased and oil was supplied to areas like Genoa and Venice, which until then, imported oil from the Mediterranean Islands and North Africa. This caused fighting between the producers over the domestic oil business. The Medici Government of Florence supported the olive oil business, giving a strong boost to the trade and propelling the oil business to all parts of Italy.
In centuries to come the cultivation of the olives had a succession of ups and downs. Government leaders would favor substantial funding for planting new plants and the increase of olive production, and then they would require farmers to pay taxes so great that the farmers were either forced to abandon the plants or even cut them down.
During World War I people discovered that wood used with oil could replace the failed coal factories in the north giving way to the cutting of thousands of trees throughout the Peninsula. And in the 1960’s flying advertisements favored the use of seed oils and also increasingly helped marginalize the use of olive oil.
In recent years a new horizon has opened up in favor of extra virgin olive oils for unparalleled organic characteristics. Adding to the merits of the Mediterranean cuisine, of which olive oil is a main ingredient, medical dieticians support its use and provide information of the nutritional value and properties of olive oil as a part of a healthy diet.
