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Chapterone
Sourcesandresourcesforthestudyofoleoculture
ofasitewithoutnecessarilyprovidingasound
basefordatingtheconstructionand/or
operationofthefacility.34
1.3.2Ceramiccontainers
Thepotentialofpotterystudiesforthe
understandingofoilproductioninantiquity
cannotbeoverestimated,asindicatedbythe
MonteTestacciomaterialandtheBaetican
amphoraeandtitulipictionthem,thestudy
ofwhichhasreflectedsignificantlynotonlyon
oliveoilproduction,butalsoontheoliveoil
tradeinthewesternhalfoftheRomanEmpire
inthe2ndand3rdcenturiesAD(seepage32).
Athoroughanalysisofthecontainersproduced
inBaeticaandfoundinRomeorontheRhine
hasgivenavividimageofthecommercein
oliveoil,alimentingthepopulationofthe
Empire’scapitalandthetroopsofthelegionary
fortresses,butalsobeingasourceofwealthfor
oilproducersalongtheGuadalquivirriver.
Thereareatleasttwoissuesofinterpretation
thatoneneedstobeawareofwhenusingthe
amphoraeevidenceforareconstructionof
theoilcommerceinantiquity.Firstly,seldom
hasitbeenpossibletoidentifythecontentsof
avesselbeyondreasonabledoubt.Thesame
typesofamphoraecouldcarrywineandoilor
otherliquids,nottomentionfrequentreuse
ofcontainersoncetheoriginalproducthad
beendelivered.Inthelattercase,dipintionthe
amphorashouldersandlaboratoryanalysesof
residueoccasionallyfoundinsidethecontainers
helpinresolvingproblems(forexamplesofsuch
research,seeGarnier2007).
IncaseofSyria–Palestine,weshould
focusontheroleplayedbytheLateRoman
Amphora1,manufacturedinthecoastalbelt
ofCiliciaandCyprus,especiallybetweenthe
5thandthe7thcenturyAD,andconsidered
bymanyasacontainerforlocallymadewine
and/oroil(foraconvenientreviewofrecent
researchontheLR1amphoraebutalsoother
Levantinetypes,seeReynolds2005).Their
widedistributionacrosstheMediterraneanwas
oftenusedasanargumentforthrivingSyrian
oliveoilproductionandexport,buttheevidence
isfarfromconvincing.Ofsimilarimportance
forthesubjectonhandwerealsotwoother
ceramiccontainerswidelydistributedinthe
LateAntiqueworld,LateRomanAmphorae5
and6,bothpopularbag-shapedjarsproduced
inlargequantitiesinPalestine,butalsosouth
ofAlexandria.Again,theirproductioninoil-
carryingregionscouldsuggestadirectlink
buttheavailableevidenceadvisescautionand
encouragesamoredetailedanalysisofthe
phenomenon(forusefulpresentationsofjar
typologyanddiscussionofpossiblecontent,
especiallyincontextofwineproduction,see,e.g.,
Pieri2005a:114–127;Kingsley2001).Theissue
ofcontainersthatcouldhavebeenusedforoil
transportearlierescapesournotice,partlyforlack
ofevidenceidentifyingtheircontent.However,
atthepresentstageofresearchitisnottobe
excludedthatsomeofthem,likethePhoenician
carinated-shoulderamphoraewidelydistributed
acrossthesoutheasternMediterraneancoast,
wereusedalsoforoilexports,andnotonlyfor
wine,aswasaccepteduntilnow(thepossibility
isadmitted,forinstance,inBikai1985;for
arecentdiscussionoftheissueofPhoenician
amphorae,seeBettles2003;Regev2004).
1.3.3Iconography
Surprisinglylittleabouttheolivetreeand
oliveoilproductioncanbelearnedfromthe
richiconographicalmaterialfromRoman–
ByzantineSyria–Palestine,especiallythe
mosaicpavementswhichhadthebiggest
chancestosurvive,evenafterthedestruction
ofthebuildingshousingthem.35Inafew
³4Doubtsofthissortareoftenexpressedbyscholarsdealingwiththeresultsofarchaeologicalprospections.ForLinFoxhallmost
ofthepressingelementsthatshestudiedfromancientGreecewereundatable.Shealsosuggestedthattherelevantabsenceof
evidencefromClassicalGreececouldbeduetothewidespreaduseofwoodinpressconstruction,seeFoxhall2007:182–186
and202.Someoftheseviewsmaybetooradical,butingeneraltheyshouldbetakenintoseriousconsiderationalsointhecase
ofSyria–Palestine.
³5TheabsenceofolivetreesfromByzantinemosaicsinSyriaandLebanonwasremarkedbyPaulineDonceel-Voûte(1988:483).
WritingofagricultureintheByzantineEmpire,MichaelKaplannotedastrikingabsenceoftheolivefromiconographical
sourcesconsideringtheuniversalcharacteroftheolivecultureintheEasternMediterraneanandcitedonlythreeexamplesfrom
11thcenturyADmanuscripts(Kaplan1992:35andnote94).
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