The oil mill

The cultivation of the olive tree and the processing of its fruits are attested since ancient times as can be seen in the following examples.

  Greek amphora / Olive harvest / Antimenes
Black-figure technique / Archaic period / 520 BC.
British Museum / London

A Greek vase from the 6th century BC.

GUADALUPE LÓPEZ MONTEAGUDO: Literary text and image in classical antiquity LITTERAE. Cuadernos sobre Cultura Escrita, i (2001), pp. 63-117, p. 80.

A building for olive oil production has been documented in La Illeta. In one of the flats there is a large stone platform designed to house a beam press, with attached basins for decanting the oil.

There are also other indications of the activity of this building. Next to the stone platform, the remains of the esparto grass mats used for pressing olives were found.

Numerous olive pits have been recovered from the remains of organic matter in the strata corresponding to this level.