ALT A Roman olive oil workshop with reconstructed equipment in the ancient city of Syedra, not far from Alanya, Turkey. After harvesting the olives they were taken to workshops to be crushed in a stone mill operated by a donkey or workers. Those stones had enough of a gap to leave the pits unbroken. Then came pressing the mush and in a vat separating from other liquids the oil as it rises to the top. Olive oil was essential for numerous ancient mediterranean civilizations and the Romans used it extensively for cooking, fuel for lamps and hygiene (it was lathered and then scraped off the body).

ALT Photo by Luna