Posted on 08/15/2010 10:35:46 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
A huge quantity of olive stones on an ancient shipwreck more than 2,000 years old has provided valuable insight into the diet of sailors in the ancient world, researchers in Cyprus said Thursday.
The shipwreck, dating from around 400 B.C. and laden mainly with wine amphorae from the Aegean island of Chios and other north Aegean islands, was discovered deep under the sea off Cyprus's southern coast.
Excavation on the site, which started in November 2007, has determined that the ship was a merchant vessel of the late classical period.
"An interesting piece of evidence that gives us information on the conditions under which the sailors of antiquity lived, are the large numbers of olive pips that were found during excavation, since these pips must have been part of the crew's food supply," Cyprus's antiquities department said in a news release Thursday.
The excavation is shedding light on seafaring in Cyprus in antiquity, commerce between the island and the Aegean and the sizes of the period's cargo ships, it said.
Olives and olive oil are a staple of the Mediterranean diet and their consumption over hundreds of years has been well documented.
Italian archaeologists discovered that some of the world's oldest perfumes, made in Cyprus, were olive oil based. The commodity was also used to fire copper furnaces.
Apart from the amphorae, or large clay wine jars, two lead rods with remains of wood were found.
"This especially rare find enhances the importance of the shipwreck and strengthens the possibilities of finding preserved wood from the ship's keel," the department said.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
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Love olives.
Famous ancient carver Chen Zu-zhang in 1737 transformed an olive pith into a miniature boat with eight passengers in different natural poses. Underneath the boat he etched over three hundred words of poetry by Su Dong-po about river ride at Red Cliff. The fruit pith masterpiece measures 1.6 centimeters high and 3.4 centimeters long.
Today, many people consider olive oil a health food. Did the ancient Greeks view it in a nutritional sense or was it valued simply for flavor or other properties?
It was not only considered as a health product but something that had in essence a divine power embedded in it--defined in a pragmatic way not in a occult or abstract way. It was a gift of the goddess Athena to the Athenians, therefore, it had the emblematic presence of the goddess.
“Love olives.”
My favorite recipe for olives is to marinate them in gin and vermouth, add ice and slowly sip the marinade.
I only like black olives; do you like all kinds? I think most people do.
I have a jar of garlic infused olives that I bought as Sam’s Club. They are hidden in the back of the frig, or I wouldnt have them any more. LOL.
Man, give me a can of colossal black olives and I’m set. I grew up where olives served on a veggie plate for apps. Always picked and snacked on them.
Yes, I like green olives too. I’m a glutten for salt and vinegar.
Stuffed with garlic or jalepeno are a bonus.
..and this is news?
LOL. A martini is a meal!
My personal favorite recipe:
In a small fryer pan, 2 anchovies or one good squeeze anchovy paste. Grate or press three large cloves garlic. Heat through until anchovies dissolve into buttery, not fishy, goodness and garlic loses some of its bitter bite.
1 cup green olives, 1 cup black olives finely chop in food processor. Add the garlic mix, spread on toast.
Some people have waay too much time on their hands. /sarc
Remarkable.
It would grow. :’D Olive trees were cultivated not least because the oil could be used for illumination and heat as well as cooking. Thanks Red_Devil 232! I considered sending this article in hopes you’d post it. ;’)
Wow, great find!
.........................or, perhaps they drank a lot of martinis ;-)
As a kid, grown up on watching Westerns, I thought Poseidon got shafted losing that mythical contest against Athena. He produced the horse, and she provided the olive tree. Phooey on stinky olives! Give me a horse to ride any day.
Now that I’m grown, and can appreciate Greek culture, well, I’d still rather retire to Arizona and ride a horse.
It is amazing what you can do with nano technology on such a large scale.
The article dates the ship to c. 400 BC and then says it is from ‘the late classical period’. 400 BC would be the early classical period, much earlier than that would be ‘ancient civilization’. 400 AD would be ‘the late classical period’.
An olive is an olive. A black olive is simply a ripe olive.
Green olives have to be cured in brine or would way to bitter to eat.
Absolutely amazing. Where in the world did you find this?
Good to know! I love all olives!!!
Ever (try to) eat a tree-ripened olive? “There can only be one!” Any more than that marks you as a determined, masochistic Darwinian Candidate.
I really have to wonder who (and how/why) discovered the process to make them edible.
“Yech! You can’t eat those things!”
“Blech!! I can’t drink this crap, either...”
“Hey; maybe if I soak those in this, then ....”
I love olives any way they appear.
There are a number of foods that seem unlikely as a food source for early man. Lobster is one that comes to mind.
...or they drank lots of martinis.
probably something they could grow relatively easily, make oil from and it was a food. It was one of those products that could probably be used for currency.
I’ve got some family members who might appreciate those, thanks for the tip!
I’d rather have the olive. Ever try to dress a salad with, or to burn, ‘horse oil’?
It is much easier to sit in the shade of an olive tree, then in the shade of a horse. Can’t sling a hammock or hang a swing from a hourse’s limbs, either.
Horses reproduce too slowly, and require too much year round work, and take up too much pasture that cows could use, for the amount of meat they produce.
Transparent glass dates from too late to provide verification of this, but *we* know the truth now... ;’)
And the horse tips over your Martini glass.
Did someone say "gin"?
aThere are a number of foods that seem unlikely as a food source for early man. Lobster is one that comes to mind.”
Imagine the first person to eat an oyster.
Imagine the poor starving b*stard that first ate chitlins.
That’s one of the ones that remain without any explanation that is satisfactory.
Hahaha...nice.
Black olives, pitted and stuffed with anchovies, then marinated two days in the olive juice and anchovy brine, and an equal amount of Kalamata.
Served with a sweet creamy cheese, like Havarti and sesame bread.
Preferred beverage - two ounces of Arak (best is Razzook or elKazen) in a wine glass, light rocks and spring water.
:’) Thanks shibumi.
Masarap!
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