Abstract

The paper concerns the results of research activities, still in progress, of the ItalianArchaeological Expedition at Hierapolis in Phrygia (Director Prof. FrancescoD'Andria), that during last years (2004-2008) have allowed the discovery of numerousarchaeological remains referable to facilities for olive oil and wine production,dating to Imperial Roman and Byzantine periods. The archaeological evidencewas discovered both during excavations in the urban area, and most of all duringarchaeological surveys carried out inside the city and in its territory, in theeastern part of the Çürüksu (ancient Lykos) river valley and in the plateau northof Hierapolis. Installations for olive oil (and perhaps also wine) production wereexcavated in the northern part of the ancient city, between the Frontinus Gate andthe Tomb of Flavius Zeuxis, and in the area of the so-called "Great Edifice", respectivelydating to Imperial and Middle Byzantine periods; remains of the same type ofinstallations (and of the same periods) were also found during intra-site survey inthe central and eastern areas of the city.During archaeological research in the territory that was under the authority ofHierapolis, a rich documentation referable to installations for wine and most ofall for olive oil productions (the last one particularly in the territory immediatelysurrounding the city) was also discovered, always connected to farms or small ruralvillages of Roman and Byzantine periods: particularly, were found monolithiccrushing basins for olives and convex mill stones, and stone parts of presses, suchas slotted piers (arbores), press beds (arae), large upright stones with a niche for anchoringthe fixed end of the press beam (prelum) and many weight-stones.The remains of presses found during research at Hierapolis and its territory for themost part were connected to lever and screw presses, described by both Pliny theElder and Hero of Alexandria. This type of press was used in the Mediterraneanbasin during Roman period, but the vast majority of screw presses found in theOrient, however, are from the Late Roman and the Byzantine periods and later.In the territory of Hierapolis, the archaeological evidence for this type of press consists of a lot of cylindrical and rectangular screw weights, respectively of theso-called "Samaria" and "Arginunta" types; these types are also widespread in theMediterranean basin during Roman Imperial period, but in the Near East they aremostly found in later contexts, beginning from Late Roman times. Regarding theolive crushers found in Hierapolis, these are essentially of two types with monolithicround crushing basins and revolving mill stones: one has a concave crushing surfacewith a central protrusion with a small socket or without socket, while the other,less common, shows concave crushing surface with a central sunken socket. Themill stones can be cylindrical or, more frequently, convex

Autore Pugliese

• Scardozzi Giuseppe

Tutti gli autori

• G. Scardozzi

Titolo volume/Rivista

Non Disponibile

Anno di pubblicazione

2010

ISSN

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ISBN

978-605-5607-12-8

Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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