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Chapterone
Sourcesandresourcesforthestudyofoleoculture
onlyahandfulofpressesknowntothescholarly
world.Despitetheearlyidentificationof
oilinstallationsnearTyreorBatroun(by
the19th-centuryscholarslikeRenanand
Conder),thefirstpresseswereexcavated
inUmmel-KAmed,southofTyre,between
1943and1945byMauriceDunandand
RaymondDuruandpublishedbrieflyalmost
twentyyearslater(Dunand,Duru1962).
In1967,RogerSaidahexcavatedmoreoil
facilitieslocatedinthedenselypopulatedlate
antiquesettlementatKhanKhalde(Mutatio
Heldua),southofBeirut.OlivierCallotused
documentationleftbytheLebanesescholarto
presentfourofthesepressesinashortpaper,
whichhasremainedfordecadespractically
theonlyreferencetothesubjectcitedby
specialistsinterestedinoilproductionin
ancientPhoenicia(Callot1982).
Thesituationimprovedin1996withthe
initiationofexcavationsbyajointPolish–
LebaneseteamintheRomano–Byzantine
villageinChhîm,followedin2003by
investigationsofalargevillageinJiyeh
(Porphyreon),bothsiteslocatedsome35km
southofBeirut.Severaloilinstallations
werediscoveredamongothers,allinavery
goodstateofpreservationanddatedtothe
RomanandByzantineperiod(forextensive
progressivereports,seeWaliszewski2002;
Waliszewskietalii2006).Additionalexamples
identifiedduringasurveyoftheregionhave
addedaconsiderablenumberofoilpresses
tothestilllimitedcorpusoffacilitiesknown
fromLebanon.AlsoinJordan,ateamfrom
theUniversityofWarsawhasconducted
alimitedsurveyoftheoilpressinstallations
indifferentpartsofthecountry.Theresults
arepresentedinthisbook.
1.3.1Excavationsandsurveys
The
overall
evaluation
of
archaeological
evidenceasasourceofinformationonolive
oilproductioninSyria–Palestinemustrelyon
excavatedorsurveyedremainsofoilinstallations.
Crushingbasinswithcrushers,weightsof
differenttypes,oilvats,piersandpressbases
fordirect-pressuredevices,buildingscontaining
pressinginstallations,allmadeoflimestoneor
otherlocallyfoundrock,werealwayspartofthe
archaeologicallandscapeintheMediterranean.
Incaseofsimplerock-cutinstallations,the
ambiguityismuchmoreevident,astreading-
floors,vatsandnichesforbeamscouldhave
servedbothpurposes,wineandoilmaking.
Inthesecasesonecannotbutconcurwith
researchersquestioningthepossibilityof
differentiatingbetweenwineandoilfacilities.
The
correct
reading
of
available
evidenceandawarenessofthehazards
ofmisinterpretationarecrucialtoany
conclusionsdrawnonthesegrounds.Onthe
whole,anexcavatedoilfacilityisabuilding
partlyexposedonthesurfaceordestroyed
tofloorlevel,featuringstandingmonolithic
elements
of
its
pressing
equipment.
Astratigraphicalinterpretationofsuch
facilitiesisbiasedbythefactthatbeingbuilt
atgreatexpenseofmoneyandtime,these
buildingssawcontinuoususeoverseveral
centuries.Despiteit,theyusuallyhaveonly
oneortwofloorlevelswithanyaccumulation
ofarchaeologicalevidenceandthisreflects
onthewholethelatestoccupation,such
floorsbeingnaturallykeptcleanwhilethe
complexwasinuse.Reconstructingafull
historyofthebuilding,fromconstruction
toabandonmentand/ordestruction,isthus
hinderedattheveryleast.Theonlyredress
inthissituationisdiggingtesttrenchesdown
tothefoundations,somethingthatisseldom
done.32
Withmerelyahandfulofoilpress
buildingsexcavated,mostofthedatacomes
fromarchaeologicalsurveys.InSyria,only
afewfacilitiesoutofalmost250knownfrom
theLimestoneMassifandafewpressesfrom
otherSyriansiteshavebeeninvestigated
³²ThestratigraphyoftheoilfacilityL207excavatedin1997atKefarBarukhintheJezre’elValleyisatypicalexample.Anoccupa-
tionlayercontaining6th–7thcenturypotteryand4th–7thcenturycoinssuggestedthatthebuildingwasconstructedprobably
inthe6thcentury.Debrisfromthecollapsedbuilding,approximately0.55mthick,subsequentlysealedthelayerfounddirectly
abovethefloorassociatedwiththepressandwasinturnsealedbyadomesticoccupationalleveldatedbythepotteryevidence
tothe10th–11thcentury(Syon2004).
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