The olive was probably around 6,000 years ago and spread to the western Mediteranean by the Early Bronze Age (about 4,500 years ago). Historically, olives have been the听most important crop in the region and today听there are more than 2,000 different cultivars of the fruit in the Mediterranean basin alone. The fruit of the olive tree, the olive, can be processed for food or pressed for oil, and the wood of the tree burns even when wet, making the entire tree an attractive investment.听
Olive Oil in the Late Bronze Age
Our knowledge about the production and use of olive oil in the Late Bronze Age comes largely from series of clay tablets from archaeological sites dated to听 (ca. 1,600 to 1,100 B.C.E.). The text on these tablets听is听written in a 听补苍诲, so far, they have primarily听been found at , as well as at Thebes, Pylos, Knossos (Crete), and Chania (Crete).听These tablets were essentially record books used to keep track of the contents of the Mycenaean palace centers. was the result of work done by two American classicists,听听补苍诲听,听补苍诲 two British classicists,听听补苍诲 .听These tablets indicate that among its other uses,听olive oil in the Late Bronze Age was sometimes perfumed and perhaps used in a religious context (1).
The CU Art Museum's collection contains several vessels from this period that may have served as containers for olive oil, including a Late Helladic IIIA stirrup jar. Two听vessels, a two-handled squat jar听dating to the Late Helladic I period (pictured here)听补苍诲 a three-handled squat jar dating to the Late Helladic IIIA period, may also have held olive oil.听
This essay was written to accompany a听collection of Greek artifacts at the CU Art Museum.听
Footnote
- John Chadwick, The Mycenaean World听(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976): 101.