History of olive oil
The third millennium BC instead goes up the discovery of a variety, Olea Oleaster, used in various fields, food, cosmetics, as fuel and as an ointment for the mummification of corpses. In the Babylonian Code of Hammurapi (nineteenth century BC) there are rules concerning the trade of olive oil. In the first millennium BC, thanks to the Phoenicians and Greeks, spread the oil business, but it was the Romans in the first century AD to give a major boost to the cultivation of olives, first in Italy and Spain then along the coasts of North Africa. The Romans reached the oil business of such economic importance that were regulated trade through the use of customs duties. During the second century there was the collapse of the sector caused by the abandonment of the fields to the effects of the barbarian invasions. Olive growing force again until the Middle Ages in central Italy, in fact, the Medici family, allowed farmers to rent the hilly areas at very low prices if they were planted with olive trees and vineyards. Farms were born-fortress with mills and wineries. From the 700's olive oil began to be exported from Italy throughout the world. |
Stories and information about the olive tree can be traced already in the fifth millennium BC, in Italy, in fact, have been found fossil leaves, stones and small stone mortars for grinding.
