Lo sviluppo tecnologico nella produzione di olio di oliva a Volubilis e nella Mauretania Tingitana
- Autores: Leonardo Bigi
- Localización: Mélanges de l'Ecole française de Rome. Antiquité, ISSN 0223-5102, Vol. 130, Nº. 1, 2018, págs. 165-183
- Idioma: italiano
- Enlaces
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Resumen
The ancient site of Volubilis, located in the southern hinterland of Mauretania Tingitana, represents a unique context in the Empire because of the highest concentration of oil workshops within an urban environment and the occurrence of technological modifications of productive instruments. Throughout the course of a century, rectangular-shaped counterweights for windlass press, (ancient pressing device widespread across North Africa), were progressively replaced by cylindrical counterweights, a type of tool generally employed together with more sophisticated screw press in neighbouring regions like Baetica. During their research on the technological development and diffusion of innovative techniques in antiquity, some scholars looked at this site and suggested two different hypotheses. Olive oil manufacturers might have increased their production by investing in a more advanced technology imported from abroad; otherwise, they might have kept using already existing devices, modifying only the material, shape, and size of the counterweights according to local criteria. This paper offers a possible solution to the debate on the basis of new data and field research carried out at Volubilis and at the main urban sites of Tingitana.
