Olive tree varieties cultivated for the great Baetican oil trade between the 1st and the 4th centuries <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">ad</Emphasis>: morphometric analysis of olive stones from Las Delicias (Ecija,Province of Seville,Spain)

During the excavations of a Roman amphora workshop and oil mill of the 1st–4th century ad in Las Delicias, Genil valley, Ecija, Spain, large quantities of charred olive stones were recovered. The assemblages discovered in the pottery kilns demonstrate the use as fuel of olive residues, which were obtained from the extraction of the oil in the nearby mill. The abundance of material offered the opportunity to study the infra-specific diversity of the olives growing in the province of Baetica, which is known to have been an important oil-producing region during the Roman Empire. In total, 335 intact charred archaeological olive stones were analysed using geometric morphometry (outline analysis) and compared with several current morphotypes. These have been identified within a set of dimensional references of the stones established from the morphometric study of current varieties and wild populations, including genuinely wild and feral forms of olives, from various areas around the Mediterranean. The morphotype mainly found in wild populations was widely represented among the olive stones from Las Delicias. A large proportion of the archaeological stones were however close to various domesticated forms, which reflect the history of the region and of its varied cultural Mediterranean influences, Punic, Greek and Roman. Moreover, intermediate forms between two distinct morphotypes were identified. They suggest that hybrid olive trees derived from crosses among domesticated varieties and also between domesticated and wild forms, were grown in Las Delicias. In the Genil valley, Roman olive cultivation was based on a set of local olives which included wild and domesticated varieties from various origins, and whose diversity arose from breeding for improvement of varieties.     

Olive oil production in Hellenistic Greece: the interpretation of charred olive remains from the site of Tria Platania,Macedonia, Greece (fourth–second century <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">b.c.</Emphasis>)

The Hellenistic farm site of Tria Platania in Macedonia, Greece, has revealed large quantities of charred olive remains, indicative of olive oil production from the fourth to the second century b.c. There, besides stones (the endocarp), new archaeobotanical elements such as olive pulp and flesh (the mesocarp) and kernels (the seed) were recovered for the first time in the archaeobotanical record in Greece. It is the purpose of this paper to present some of the material recovered from Tria Platania and interpret it in the light of developed model sequences of olive processing. In addition, Olea assemblages from other Greek sites are discussed in which Olea remains have been interpreted in various ways.     

An experimental approach for tracing olive processing residues in the archaeobotanical record, with preliminary examples from Tell Tweini, Syria

To help the interpretation of possible olive processing residues at archaeological sites, this study examines the changes which occur in pre- and post-charring breakage surfaces of olive stones at tissue level. Fresh olives were experimentally broken before and after charring and heated to different temperatures (230, 330, 430°C) in oxidising and non-oxidising conditions. The structures obtained by the experiment were studied with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the characteristics for the different temperatures, oxidation regimes and pre- or post-charring fractures were recorded. Furthermore, the experimental specimens were compared with recent and possibly old fractures of several archaeological olive stones from Tell Tweini, Syria. Criteria to infer their formation are discussed. These criteria could be developed further through more experimental replication and additional charring variables, and verified extensively on archaeobotanical assemblages in future studies. The described structures and alterations in the olive stones can be observed using reflected light microscopy, which would allow the proposed approach to be rather easy to apply in practice.     

On the origin and domestication of Olea europaea L. (olive) in Andalucía, Spain, based on the biogeographical distribution of its finds

The remains of Olea europaea in archaeological contexts in the southern Iberian Peninsula have been found in the Epipalaeolithic levels of Cueva de Nerja (10860±160 b.p.). The abundant appearance of charcoal and some seed remains from the Copper Age (3rd millennium b.c.) in the coastal zones of the southeast indicate that this species formed part of the vegetation of the Thermo-mediterranean zone and that its fruits were collected during these periods. However, Olea did not appear in the Meso-mediterranean zone until the Roman period, when olive cultivation was introduced there. The presence of charcoal and olive stones from the 1st century a.d. onwards is abundant, together with remains of structures for oil pressing.     

On the origins and spread of Olea europaea L. (olive) domestication: evidence for shape variation of olive stones at Ugarit,Late Bronze Age,Syria—a window on the Mediterranean Basin and on the westward diffusion of olive varieties

Charred archaeological stones of Olea europaea L. (olive) from Late Bronze Age Ugarit, Syria, were analyzed with geometric morphometry and compared with a morphological differentiation model established on the basis of analyses of modern spontaneous (uncultivated) olive populations and cultivated varieties of various origins within the Mediterranean Basin. The results allow a reinterpretation of the east–west morphological diversity previously observed in wild olives. The archaeobotanical data were compared in detail to the partly geographically structured modern morphological diversity of the cultivated olive. Ancient morphotypes could be distinguished, among which one is dominant in the assemblage. Their diffusion from east to west is shown, and their time of arrival in the northwestern Mediterranean can be evaluated by comparison to archaeological material from that area. Combining morphometric and genetic data, modern reference and archaeological material also guides us in understanding the mechanisms that prevailed in the long-term agrobiodiversity of the olive.     

A methodological approach to the study of archaeological cereal meals: a case study at Çatalhöyük East (Turkey)

This paper presents an integrated methodology for the analysis of archaeological remains of cereal meals, based on scanning electronic microscopic analyses of microstructures of charred food fragments from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey). The remains of cereal foods as ‘bread-like’ or ‘porridge-like’ small charred lumps of various amalgamated plant materials are frequently recovered from Neolithic and later archaeological sites in southwest Asia and Europe. Cereal food remains have recently attracted interest because the identification of their plant contents, the forms of food that they represent and the methods used in their creation can provide unique information about ancient culinary traditions and routine food processing, preparation and cooking techniques. Here, we focus on three methodological aspects: (1) the analysis of their composition; (2) the analysis of their microstructure to determine preparation and cooking processes; (3) the comparison with experimental reference materials. Preliminary results are presented on the botanical composition and cooking processes represented by the charred cereal preparations found at Neolithic Çatalhöyük (Turkey), for example cereals processed into bread, dough and/or porridge.     

Historical biogeography of olive domestication (Olea europaea L.) as revealed by geometrical morphometry applied to biological and archaeological material

Aim This study intends to improve our understanding of historical biogeography of olive domestication in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly in the north-western area. Location Investigations were performed simultaneously on olive stones from extant wild populations, extant cultivated varieties from various Mediterranean countries, and archaeological assemblages of Spanish, French and Italian settlements. Methods A combination of morphometrics (traditional and geometrical) allowed us to study both the size and shape of endocarp structure. Concerning shape, a size-standardized method coupled with fitted polynomial regression analysis was performed. Results We found morphological criteria for discriminating between wild and cultivated olive cultivars, and established patterns of morphological variation of olive material according to the geographical origin (for extant material) and to the age of the olive forms (for archaeological material). Levels of morphological convergences and divergences between wild olive populations and cultivated varieties are presented as evidence. Main conclusions Morphological changes of endocarps of olive under domestication at both geographical and chronological scales provide new criteria for the identification of olive cultivars. They allow to determine the origins of cultivated forms created and/or introduced in the north-western Mediterranean regions and to understand how human migrations affected the rest of the Western Mediterranean regions. A model of diffusion of olive cultivation is proposed. It shows evidence of an indigenous origin of the domestication process, which is currently recognized in the north-western area since the Bronze Age.     

Crop processing of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Olea europaea</Emphasis> L.: an experimental approach for the interpretation of archaeobotanical olive remains

Archaeobotanical research, ethnographic observations and laboratory experiments are put together to create model sequences of olive processing, which are developed, presented and explored as an aid for the interpretation of rich archaeobotanical assemblages of Olea. We conclude that the remains of different processing stages are reasonably distinctive in the archaeobotanical record and assist in the identification of different types of olive remains, such as fragmented olive stones, the inner kernels, and fruit flesh     

Analysis and Preservation of Pleistocene Human and Animal Footprints: An Example from Toluquilla,Valsequillo Basin (Central Mexico)

Human and animal footprints found in the Valsequillo Basin were formed on the upper bedding planes surfaces of a volcanic ash (Xalnene Ash) deposited by a subaqueous volcano along the shores of a Pleistocene lake. The footprints were made on lake shorelines and the exposed lake floor during low stands associated, either with water displacement during the volcanic eruption, or due to climatically-driven fluctuations in the water balance. The Xalnene Ash has been dated to at least 40 K BP and consequently the human footprints provide evidence for much earlier colonization of the Americas than is often accepted. The methodology used to record, analyze and conserve these footprints used three-dimensional laser scanning, with sub-millimeter precision. This data were used to reproduce polymer models of individual footprints using the application of rapid-prototyping technology. This technology has wide significance for the study of ichnofacies in general. The characteristics of the human footprints and some problems associated with the volcanic ash as a molding medium for the clarity of these characteristics are given. These human footprints and their dating resolve the controversy related to the age of the archaeological and associated megafaunal remains that were reported in the Valsequillo Gravels in the 1960s and 1970s.     

Flax in Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece: archaeobotanical evidence

This paper presents an overview of archaeobotanical finds of Linum usitatissimum from Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece, bringing together published records of this plant as well as some recently retrieved, unpublished finds. In addition, charred flax seed concentrations from five prehistoric sites from the region of Macedonia in northern Greece, are examined in detail. The Neolithic sites are Makriyalos, Mandalo, Arkadikos, Dikili Tash, dated to the Late and Final Neolithic and Archondiko, dated to the end of the Early Bronze Age. Archaeobotanical composition and contextual information are used in order to explore the cultivation and potential uses of flax at each site. By the 5th millennium b.c. a flax weed flora had probably developed in the region. The use of flax seed for oil extraction and flax stems for flax fibre preparation can only be speculated upon and these uses are discussed within the context of other archaeological finds related to plant oil production and weaving. It is also possible that flax may have been used for medicinal purposes. Despite a striking paucity in archaeobotanical remains from southern Greece, textual evidence available from the Mycenean palace archives in Linear B clearly documents the cultivation of flax and flax fibre production.     

Historic fuel wood use in the Galápagos Islands: identification of charred remains

Charcoal fragments from five historic campsite locations in the Galápagos Islands were identified and radiocarbon dated to investigate postulated early human presence in the archipelago, historic fuel wood collection patterns and the resultant impact on native vegetation. A variety of taxa and fuel types were revealed to be present in the charcoal assemblages, indicating geographically driven rather than species-specific methods of collection. Historic anthropogenic impact was therefore spread amongst woody taxa in the lowland plant communities, with severity dependent on proximity to campsite location. All charred remains were found to date from within the historic period, supporting the preponderance of archaeological evidence indicating that human presence did not begin in Galápagos until after European discovery.     

Ethanol production from olive cake biomass substrate

The inexpensive production of sugars from lignocellulose is an essential step for the use of biomass to produce fuel ethanol. Olive cake is an abundant by-product of the olive oil industry and represents a potentially significant lignocellulosic source for bioethanol production in the Mediterranean basin. Furthermore, converting olive cake to ethanol could add further value to olive production. In the present study, olive cake was evaluated as a feedstock for ethanol production. To this end, the lignocellulosic component of the olive cake was dilute-acid pretreated at a 13.5% olive-cake loading with 1.75% (w/v) sulfuric acid and heating at 160°C for 10 min. This was followed by chemical elimination of fermentation inhibitors. Soluble sugars resulting from the pretreatment process were fermented using E. coli FBR5, a strain engineered to selectively produce ethanol. 8.1 g of ethanol/L was obtained from hydrolysates containing 18.1 g of soluble sugars. Increasing the pretreatment temperature to 180°C resulted in failed fermentations, presumably due to inhibitory by-products released during pretreatment.     

Primary domestication and early uses of the emblematic olive tree: palaeobotanical, historical and molecular evidence from the Middle East

Our knowledge of the origins of olive tree domestication in the Middle East and on the processes governing its extension and persistence in different vegetation types from prehistory through antiquity to modern times derives from diverse sources, spanning the biological sciences to the humanities. Nonetheless, it lacks a robust overview that may lead to floating interpretations. This is especially true in the Middle East, considered as the cradle of agriculture, and where the evolutionary history of this emblematic tree is intertwined with that of civilizations. Olive fruit, oil and wood have been, since Prehistoric times, characteristic products of the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea. In the domestic economy of these countries, the olive tree gradually became a traditional tree crop since the first oil extraction, through the emergence of regional commerce that accompanied the rise and fall of early Near-Middle Eastern urbanism, until the development of modern trade, with an oil production estimated at circa 3000000 tons per year. The rising importance of the olive tree in human life has turned the tree into an endless source of fascination in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, a symbol and a sacred tree, widely cited in the Bibles, the Koran, and in ancient literature. Here we argue that advances in radiocarbon chronology, palaeobotany, genetics, and archaeology-history have profoundly refined the history of olive trees in the Middle East. This review shows that the heartland of primary olive domestication must be enlarged to the Levant and not only focus on the Jordan Valley. The domestication of the olive tree is a long and ongoing process, linked to the early production of oil and the development of the olive trade. We also suggest that the olive tree became a particular icon, a sacred tree, during the Biblical period in the Levant.     

Finger Millet processing in East Africa

Although archaeobotanical sampling and recovery programmes are a relatively recent implementation in East African archaeology, results from sites where they have been carried out follow a similar trend. This is one of abundant recovery of wood charcoal, but very little in the way of other macroscopic plant remains. Restricted archaeological evidence and ethnographic interviews show the importance of grains, in particular finger millet (Eleusine coracana), for the Bunyoro people of Uganda in pre-colonial times. It has been suggested that one of the possible reasons why finger millet is not being recovered in quantity from archaeological contexts is because the processing of this crop does not involve heating and hence there is not the chance of being deposited in charred form in the archaeological record. Recent ethnographic work on finger millet processing in Uganda shows that it is exposed to heat and potential charring during cleaning and preparation of the grain for either storage or cooking, and this regime is discussed in terms of its activities and products. These findings reinforce the need for archaeobotanists and archaeologists working in this region to look for other possible causes of the scarcity of macroscopic plant remains, and also the importance of considering integrated evidence for agricultural activity on prehistoric sites.     

New evidence for the use of root foods in pre-agrarian subsistence recovered from the late Mesolithic site at Halsskov, Denmark

Roots and tubers, together with other plant storage organs such as rhizomes, bulbs, corms, etc. are known to be a source of human food. Until very recently, however, remains of root foods were rarely identified from archaeological contexts in temperate Europe. New evidence for the use of root foods has been recently recovered from the early Erteb?lle settlement at Halsskov in Denmark. Remains included charred bulbs of Allium cf. ursinum and tubers of Conopodium majus. They were accompanied by charred remains of parenchymatous tissues derived from underground parts of other plants. All parenchymatous remains were recovered from features that could be interpreted as pit-cooking depressions. A minimum of two periods of root food gathering can be assumed, spring to early summer and autumn. The presence of charred seeds of Nuphar pumilum suggests that either the seeds or rhizomes (or both) were use as food. Received September 4, 2001 / Accepted February 27, 2002     

Archaeological Evidence for Peach (Prunus persica) Cultivation and Domestication in China

The cultivated/domesticated peach (Prunus persica var. persica; Rosaceae, subgenus Amygdalus; synonym: Amygdalus persica) originated in China, but its wild ancestor, as well as where, when, and under what circumstances the peach was domesticated, is poorly known. Five populations of archaeological peach stones recovered from Zhejiang Province, China, document peach use and evolution beginning ca. 8000 BP. The majority of the archaeological sites from which the earliest peach stones have been recovered are from the Yangzi River valley, indicating that this is where early selection for favorable peach varieties likely took place. Furthermore, peach stone morphology through time is consistent with the hypothesis that an unknown wild P. persica was the ancestor of the cultivated peach. The oldest archaeological peach stones are from the Kuahuqiao (8000–7000 BP) and Tianluoshan (7000–6500 BP) sites and both stone samples segregate into two size groups, suggesting early selection of preferred types. The first peach stones in China most similar to modern cultivated forms are from the Liangzhu culture (ca. 5300 to 4300 BP), where the peach stones are significantly larger and more compressed than earlier stones. Similar peach stones are reported from Japan much earlier (6700–6400 BP). This large, compressed-stone peach was introduced to Japan and indicates a yet unidentified source population in China that was similar to the Liangzhu culture peach. This study proposes that the lower Yangzi River valley is a region, if not the region, of early peach selection and domestication and that the process began at least 7500 years ago.     

Sieving experiment: the controlled recovery of charred plant remains from modern and archaeological samples

Results of experimental retrieval of plant remains (both charred modern and fossil) from three sediment types (clay, gravel and sandy loam) carried out by environmental archaeologists from the Ancient Monuments Laboratory and the Central Archaeology Service, English Heritage, are reported. For each sediment type, six different treatments were carried out using three flotation machines of the Siraf type, two other machines in use in two archaeological units and one experimental machine. The results show that there is invariably considerable discrepancy between the amount of plant material present and that recovered, that the Serif-type machine is among the best currently available and that pretreatment of particular mineral soils may improve recovery of plant macrofossil material.     

Effect of fungal species involved in the olive fruit rot on the qualitative properties of olive oil

Olive oil is the most important product of olive fruits with worldwide consumption, particularly in Mediterranean countries. Olive oil is generally extracted mechanically from the olive fruits. Some biotic and abiotic factors may affect the quality of oil extracted from olive fruit. Contamination with fungi during growth period in the garden or during the conservation of the harvested crop under storage condition may leave negative effects on the quality of olive oil. However, there is no data available on the effects of fungal infections on qualitative properties of olive oil in Iran. In the present study effects of several fungal groups previously isolated from rotten olive fruit in olive orchards including Alternaria alternata, Fusarium nygamai, Aspergillus ochraceus, Arthrinium phaeospermum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Aureobasidium pullulans, Epicoccum nigrum, Penicillium expansum, Truncatella angustata, Trichothecium roseum and Trichoderma harzianum were evaluated on some qualitative properties of olive oil, under laboratory condition on two olive cultivars (Zard & Roghani). For this purpose fresh and healthy fruits of olive, were surface sterilisation with 96% ethanol and rinsed with sterile water and then inoculated with each of the fungal groups separately using spore suspension (10^6?ml^?1). The experiment was carried out in two replicates for each treatment (fungal isolates). The results of this study revealed that fungal infection caused significant increase in the extracted oil acidity and peroxide values. However, there was no significant difference in the acidity and peroxide values among different treatments (fungal isolates).     

Effect of culture conditions on batch growth ofPseudomonas fluorescens on olive oil

Summary Batch cultures ofPseudomonas fluores-cens were grown in minimal medium with olive oil as the sole carbon source. When olive oil me-dium was inoculated with cells from nutrient broth there was an initial lag phase followed by logarithmic growth. The duration of the lag phase was influenced by the incubation temperature and the growth phase of the inoculum. Both factors are known to affect lipase induction during growth in fat-free media. Maintenance of condi-tions reported to be conducive to lipase produc-tion in cultures used for inoculation ensured a minimal lag before logarithmic growth com-menced on olive oil. Growth on oil occurred when the culture was maintained at pH 6 or 7, but did not occur at pH 5 or 8.     

Arabica coffee and olive oils mitigate malathion-induced nephrotoxicity in rat: In silico,immunohistochemical and biochemical evaluation

Malathion (MAL) is an organophosphate insecticide that disrupts the body's antioxidant system; it is one of the earliest organophosphate insecticides extensively used as dust, emulsion, and vapor control a wide variety of insect pests under different conditions. This experimentation aims to evaluate the influence of Arabica coffee oil and olive oil on MAL-induced nephrotoxicity in male rat. 6 sets bearing the same number of animals were applied to this experiment. Each set comprised 10 rats. The first set of rats was used as the control group; rats in the second set were exposed to MAL measured at 100 mg/kg body weight for 7 weeks. Animals in the third and fourth set were treated with 400 mg/kg body weight of Arabica coffee oil and olive oil, and 100 mg/kg body weight of MAL. The fifth, together with the sixth set, were fed with a similar proportion of Arabica coffee oil and olive oil as administered to the third set of rats. After the experimental duration, rats of group 2 showed severe biochemical alterations, including significant increases of creatinine, uric acids, and urea nitrogen (BUN), resulting in marked decreases in serum albumin values and total protein (TP). Severe histopathological and immunohistochemical alterations of kidney tissues were observed in exposed MAL-intoxicated rats. Administration of these oils reduced the detected biochemical, histopathological modifications caused by MAL intoxication. Two active ingredients in Arabica coffee oil (oleic acid) and olive oil (hydroxytyrosol) showed good cyclooxygenase-2 (COX 2) interaction. Moreover, oleic acid from coffee oil and olive oil exhibited impressive association with xanthine oxidase (XO). The current finding showed that coffee oil and olive oil could be appraised as possible and a likely deterrence component against nephrotoxicity brought about by MAL.