Editing Olive oil (section)

== History ==

Olive oil has long been a common ingredient in [[Mediterranean cuisine]], including [[ancient Greek cuisine|ancient Greek]] and [[cuisine of ancient Rome|Roman cuisine]]. Wild olives, which originated in [[Asia Minor]], were collected by [[Neolithic]] people as early as the 8th millennium BC.<ref name="Davidson, s.v. Olives">{{cite book|last=Davidson|first=Alan|year=1999|title=The Oxford Companion to Food|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-211579-0|at=''s.v.'' Olives}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/web/aa-ingles/oliveWorld/olivo.html |title=International Olive Council |access-date=October 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026133432/http://www.internationaloliveoil.org/web/aa-ingles/oliveWorld/olivo.html |archive-date=October 26, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Besides food, olive oil has been used for religious [[ritual]]s, [[medicine]]s, as a [[fuel]] in [[oil lamp]]s, [[Making soap|soap-making]], and skincare application.{{Citation needed|reason=cite each historic use|date=November 2020}} The [[Sparta]]ns and other Greeks used oil to rub themselves while exercising in the [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasia]]. From its beginnings early in the 7th century BC, the cosmetic use of olive oil quickly spread to all of the Hellenic city-states, together with athletes training in the nude, and lasted close to a thousand years despite its great expense.<ref>Scanlon, Thomas F. (2005). "The Dispersion of Pederasty and the Athletic Revolution in sixth-century BC Greece", in ''[[Same-Sex Desire and Love in Greco-Roman Antiquity and in the Classical Tradition of the West]]'', ed. B.C. Verstraete and V. Provençal, Harrington Park Press.</ref><ref>Kennell, Nigel M. "Most Necessary for the Bodies of Men: Olive Oil and its By-products in the Later Greek Gymnasium" in Mark Joyal (ed.), ''In Altum: Seventy-Five Years of Classical Studies in Newfoundland'', 2001; popis pp. 119–133.</ref> Olive oil was also popular as a form of birth control; [[Aristotle]] in his ''[[History of Animals]]'' recommends applying a mixture of olive oil combined with either oil of [[cedrus|cedar]], ointment of [[lead]], or ointment of [[frankincense]] to the [[cervix]] to prevent pregnancy.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Medical History of Contraception|author=Himes, Norman E.| publisher=Gamut Press| year=1963|pages=86–87}}</ref>

=== Early cultivation ===
[[File:Klazomenai.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Ancient Greek olive oil production workshop in [[Klazomenai]], [[Ionia]] (modern Turkey)]]

The exact date and location of olive tree domestication are unclear. The modern olive tree may have originated in ancient Persia and [[Mesopotamia]] and spread to the [[Levant]] and later to [[North Africa]], though some scholars argue for an Egyptian origin.<ref name=review>{{cite journal |last1=Kapellakis |first1=Iosif Emmanouil |s2cid=84992505 |title=Olive oil history, production and by-product management |journal=Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology |date=2008 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.1007/s11157-007-9120-9|bibcode=2008RESBT...7....1K }}</ref>

The olive tree reached Greece, [[Carthage]] and [[Libya]] sometime in the [[28th century BC]], having been spread westward by the [[Phoenicians]].<ref name=review/> Until around 1500 BC, eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean were most heavily cultivated.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} Evidence also suggests that olives were being grown in [[Crete]] as long ago as 2500 BC. The earliest surviving olive oil [[amphora]]e date to 3500 BC ([[Early Minoan]] times), though the production of olive oil is assumed to have started before 4000 BC.<ref>Foley, B. P.; Hansson, M. C.; Kourkoumelis, D. P.; & Theodoulou, T. A. (2012). "Aspects of ancient Greek trade re-evaluated with amphora DNA evidence". ''Journal of Archaeological Science'', 39(2), 389-398.</ref> Olive trees were certainly cultivated by the [[Late Minoan]] period (1500 BC) in Crete, and perhaps as early as the Early Minoan.<ref>Riley, F. R. "Olive Oil Production on Bronze Age Crete: Nutritional properties, Processing methods, and Storage life of Minoan olive oil". ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology'' '''21''':1:63–75 (2002).</ref> The cultivation of olive trees in Crete became particularly intense in the post-palatial period and played an important role in the island's economy, as it did across the Mediterranean.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hadjisavvas |first1=Sophocles |last2=Chaniotis |first2=Angelos |date=2012 |title=Wine and olive oil in Crete and Cyprus: socio-economic aspects |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23541207 |journal=British School at Athens Studies |volume=20 |pages=157–173 |jstor=23541207 |issn=2159-4996}}</ref> Later, as Greek colonies were established in other parts of the Mediterranean, olive farming was introduced to places like [[Spain]] and continued to spread throughout the [[Roman Empire]].<ref name=review/>

Olive trees were introduced to the [[Americas]] in the 16th century, when cultivation began in areas with a climate similar to the Mediterranean, such as Chile, Argentina, and [[California]].<ref name=review/>

Recent [[genetic studies]] suggest that species used by modern cultivators descend from multiple wild populations, but detailed history of domestication is unknown.<ref>Besnarda, Guillaume; André Bervillé, "Multiple origins for Mediterranean olive (''Olea europaea'' L. ssp. ''europaea'') based upon mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms", ''Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences – Series III – Sciences de la Vie'' '''323''':2:173–181 (February 2000); Breton, Catherine; Michel Tersac and André Bervillé, "Genetic diversity and gene flow between the wild olive (oleaster, ''Olea europaea'' L.) and the olive: several Plio-Pleistocene refuge zones in the Mediterranean basin suggested by simple sequence repeats analysis", ''Journal of Biogeography'' '''33''':11:1916 (November 2006).</ref>

=== Trade and production ===
[[File:Turkey.Bodrum042.jpg|thumb|Ancient oil press (Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, Bodrum, Turkey)]]

[[Archaeological evidence]] in [[Galilee]] shows that by 6000 BC olives were being turned into olive oil<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-8-000-year-old-olive-oil-found-in-galilee-1.5347955|author=Schuster, Ruth|date=17 December 2014|title=8,000-year old olive oil found in Galilee, earliest known in world|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=17 December 2014|archive-date=February 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207222735/https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-8-000-year-old-olive-oil-found-in-galilee-1.5347955|url-status=dead}}</ref> and in 4500 BC at a now-submerged prehistoric settlement south of [[Haifa]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Galili |first1=Ehud |last2=Stanley |first2=Daniel Jean |last3=Sharvit |first3=Jacob |last4=Weinstein-Evron |first4=Mina |title=Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production in Submerged Settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |date=December 1997 |volume=24 |issue=12 |pages=1141–1150 |doi=10.1006/jasc.1997.0193|bibcode=1997JArSc..24.1141G }}</ref>

Olive trees and oil production in the Eastern Mediterranean can be traced to archives of the ancient city-state [[Ebla]] (2600–2240 BC), which were located on the outskirts of [[Aleppo]]. Here, some dozen documents dated 2400 BC describe the lands of the king and the queen. These belonged to a library of clay tablets perfectly preserved by having been baked in the fire that destroyed the palace. A later source is the frequent mentions of oil in the [[Tanakh]].<ref name="ucsc1">{{cite web|url=http://history.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-research/electronic-journal/journal-pdfs/Brown_2011.pdf|title=By the Rivers of Babylon: The Near Eastern Background and Influence on the Power Structures Ancient Israel and Judah|author=Brown, Nathaniel R.|publisher=history.ucsc.edu|date=June 11, 2011|access-date=July 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810141555/http://history.ucsc.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-research/electronic-journal/journal-pdfs/Brown_2011.pdf|archive-date=August 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Dynastic [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] before 2000&nbsp;BC imported olive oil from Crete, Syria, and [[Canaan]], and oil was an important item of commerce and wealth. Remains of olive oil have been found in jugs over 4,000 years old in a tomb on the island of [[Naxos Island|Naxos]] in the [[Aegean Sea]]. [[Sinuhe]], the Egyptian exile who lived in northern Canaan c.1960&nbsp;BC, wrote of abundant olive trees.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/sinuhe.htm |last1=Gardiner |first1=Alan H. |year=1916 |title=Notes on the Story of Sinuhe |publisher=Librairie Honoré Champion |location=Paris |access-date=December 28, 2008 |archive-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402003751/http://reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/sinuhe.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Minoans used olive oil in religious ceremonies. The oil became a principal product of the [[Minoan civilization]], where it is thought to have represented wealth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Riley |first=F.R. |date=February 1, 2002 |title=Olive oil production on bronze age Crete: nutritional properties, processing methods and storage life of Minoan olive oil |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0092.00149 |journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=63–75 |doi=10.1111/1468-0092.00149 |issn=0262-5253}}</ref>

Olive oil was also a major export of [[Mycenaean Greece]] (c. 1450–1150 BC).<ref>{{cite book|last=Castleden|first=Rodney|title=The Mycenaeans|year=2005|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-36336-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kfi0dAlfJaoC|page=107|quote=Huge quantities of olive oil were produced and it must have been a major source of wealth. The simple fact that southern Greece is far more suitable climatically for olive production may explain why the Mycenaean civilization made far greater advances in the south than in the north. The oil had a variety of uses, in cooking, as a dressing, as soap, as lamp oil, and as a base for manufacturing unguents.|access-date=April 3, 2016|archive-date=January 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115132907/https://books.google.com/books?id=Kfi0dAlfJaoC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=review/> Scholars believe the oil was made by a process where olives were placed in woven mats and squeezed. The oil was collected in vats. This process was known from the [[Bronze Age]], was used by the Egyptians, and continued to be used through the [[Hellenistic period]].<ref name=review/>

[[File:Olive Press in Pompeji.JPG|thumb|left|Olive crusher ''(trapetum)'' in Pompeii (79 AD)]]

The importance of olive oil as a commercial commodity increased after the Roman conquest of Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor, which led to more trade along the Mediterranean. Olive trees were planted throughout the entire Mediterranean basin during the evolution of the [[Roman Republic]] and [[Roman Empire|Empire]]. According to the historian [[Pliny the Elder]], Italy had "excellent olive oil at reasonable prices" by the 1st century AD—"the best in the Mediterranean".{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} As olive production expanded in the 5th century AD the Romans began to employ more sophisticated production techniques such as the [[olive press]] and ''trapetum'' (pictured left).<ref name=review/> Many ancient presses still exist in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and some dating to the Roman period are still used today.<ref name="ceipac ub">{{cite journal |last1=Blázquez |first1=J. M. |title=The Latest Work on the Export of Baetican Olive Oil to Rome and the Army |journal=Greece and Rome |date=October 1992 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=173–188 |doi=10.1017/S0017383500024153 }}</ref> Productivity was greatly improved by Joseph Graham's development of the [[hydraulic]] pressing system in 1795.<ref name=review/>

[[File:The Manufacture of Oil drawn and engraved by J Amman in the Sixteenth Century.png|thumb|upright|''The Manufacture of Oil'', 16th-century engraving by [[Jost Amman]]]]

=== Symbolism and mythology ===
The olive tree has historically been a symbol of peace between nations. It has played a religious and social role in [[Greek mythology]], especially concerning the city of [[Ancient Athens|Athens]], named after the goddess [[Athena]] because her gift of an olive tree was held to be more precious than rival [[Poseidon]]'s gift of a salt spring.<ref name=review/>