Did someone say "gin"?
Posted on 08/15/2010 10:35:46 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
A huge quantity of olive stones on an ancient shipwreck more than 2,000 years old has provided valuable insight into the diet of sailors in the ancient world, researchers in Cyprus said Thursday.
The shipwreck, dating from around 400 B.C. and laden mainly with wine amphorae from the Aegean island of Chios and other north Aegean islands, was discovered deep under the sea off Cyprus's southern coast.
Excavation on the site, which started in November 2007, has determined that the ship was a merchant vessel of the late classical period.
"An interesting piece of evidence that gives us information on the conditions under which the sailors of antiquity lived, are the large numbers of olive pips that were found during excavation, since these pips must have been part of the crew's food supply," Cyprus's antiquities department said in a news release Thursday.
The excavation is shedding light on seafaring in Cyprus in antiquity, commerce between the island and the Aegean and the sizes of the period's cargo ships, it said.
Olives and olive oil are a staple of the Mediterranean diet and their consumption over hundreds of years has been well documented.
Italian archaeologists discovered that some of the world's oldest perfumes, made in Cyprus, were olive oil based. The commodity was also used to fire copper furnaces.
Apart from the amphorae, or large clay wine jars, two lead rods with remains of wood were found.
"This especially rare find enhances the importance of the shipwreck and strengthens the possibilities of finding preserved wood from the ship's keel," the department said.
(Excerpt) Read more at uk.reuters.com ...
An olive is an olive. A black olive is simply a ripe olive.
Green olives have to be cured in brine or would way to bitter to eat.
Absolutely amazing. Where in the world did you find this?
Good to know! I love all olives!!!
Ever (try to) eat a tree-ripened olive? “There can only be one!” Any more than that marks you as a determined, masochistic Darwinian Candidate.
I really have to wonder who (and how/why) discovered the process to make them edible.
“Yech! You can’t eat those things!”
“Blech!! I can’t drink this crap, either...”
“Hey; maybe if I soak those in this, then ....”
I love olives any way they appear.
There are a number of foods that seem unlikely as a food source for early man. Lobster is one that comes to mind.
...or they drank lots of martinis.
probably something they could grow relatively easily, make oil from and it was a food. It was one of those products that could probably be used for currency.
I’ve got some family members who might appreciate those, thanks for the tip!
I’d rather have the olive. Ever try to dress a salad with, or to burn, ‘horse oil’?
It is much easier to sit in the shade of an olive tree, then in the shade of a horse. Can’t sling a hammock or hang a swing from a hourse’s limbs, either.
Horses reproduce too slowly, and require too much year round work, and take up too much pasture that cows could use, for the amount of meat they produce.
Transparent glass dates from too late to provide verification of this, but *we* know the truth now... ;’)
And the horse tips over your Martini glass.
Did someone say "gin"?
aThere are a number of foods that seem unlikely as a food source for early man. Lobster is one that comes to mind.”
Imagine the first person to eat an oyster.
Imagine the poor starving b*stard that first ate chitlins.
That’s one of the ones that remain without any explanation that is satisfactory.
Hahaha...nice.
Black olives, pitted and stuffed with anchovies, then marinated two days in the olive juice and anchovy brine, and an equal amount of Kalamata.
Served with a sweet creamy cheese, like Havarti and sesame bread.
Preferred beverage - two ounces of Arak (best is Razzook or elKazen) in a wine glass, light rocks and spring water.
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