Megalithic Madness and Measurement. Or How Many Olives Could an Olive Press Press?
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22891936 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David J Mattingly, David Mattingly (0000-0003-1862-8392, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1988 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 177-195 |
| Publication date | 1988-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Oxford Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0262-5253 • E-ISSN: 1468-0092 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1468-0092.1988.tb00175.x |
| OpenAlex | W1984557791 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 16 |
Nineteenth century explorers and travellers in north‐west Libya were intrigued by the hundreds of well‐preserved stone structures which they took to be prehistoric megaliths of ritual significance. H.S. Cowper made a particular study of them in this belief, measuring, sketching and photographing quite a number of the monuments. The admirably meticulous character of his work was undone by his fanciful interpretation and it was soon revealed that the stone structures were, in fact, parts of Roman olive presses. This article, however, considers the lasting importance of Cowper's work in the context of a detailed discussion of the processing capacity of ancient olive presses (that is what quantity of olives comprised a single press load and how much olive oil was likely to be yielded). Comparison with literary and ethnographic evidence suggests that the Tripolitanian presses had a large potential capacity. An order of magnitude figure of c. 9–10,000 kg is proposed for the annual output of olive oil from one of these large presses.
Archaeology · Art · Art history · Character (mathematics) · Context (archaeology) · Ethnography · Interpretation (philosophy) · Megalith · Olive oil · Prehistory · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Philosophy
Olives and olive oil
A middle Byzantine olive press room at Aphrodisias
Modelling the Supply of Wood Fuel in Ancient Rome
Some Oil Presses from Western Galilee
Snapping up the Unconsidered Trifles
Pliny’s Presses
The Archaeology of the Colonized
Farmers and Frontiers. Exploiting and Defending the Countryside of Roman Tripolitania
The Olive Boom. Oil Surpluses, Wealth and Power in Roman Tripolitania
La vie agricole en Libye jusqu'à l'arrivée des Arabes
Report on the preliminary season of the Lepcis Magna Coastal Survey
Paintings, Presses and Perfume Production at Pompeii
Lo sviluppo tecnologico nella produzione di olio di oliva a Volubilis e nella Mauretania Tingitana
Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
La voie romaine de piedmont Sufetula-Masclianae (Djebel Mrhila, Tunisie centrale)
Libyans and the 'limes'
The Kasserine Archaeological Survey, 1982-1986 (University of Virginia, USA - Institut National d'Archéologie et d'Art de Tunisie)
Oil for export? A comparison of Libyan, Spanish and Tunisian olive oil production in the Roman empire
The Olive Boom. Oil Surpluses, Wealth and Power in Roman Tripolitania
The Unesco Libyan Valleys Survey VI
The Tripolitanian Gebel
Roman Sites on the Tarhuna Plateau of Tripolitania
Ancient Settlement in the Tripolitanian Gebel, II
À propos du pressoir à huile
| Citations per year | 0.34 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1988 - 2019 (32) |
| Highly cited | No |