OLIVE and OLIVE OIL in BABAKALE

       The regions of  ancient Troad and Adramitteon Gulf  of Anatolia  in which Babakale is taking place  are very famous with its olive and olive oil. If you look down from a hill toward  the sea, you can always see a valley with terraced olive groves rising one above the other and above the sea.      

Kucukkuyu

Akliman

      Shades of green,green and blue. This is Anatolia and this is the habitat of the olive tree. Poor, calcareous soil and rock. Long hot summers (but not more than 40oC). Hillsides to let life-giving winds blow freely through the branches. The sea, never far, softens harsh winters (temperatures not less than -10C  and Annual rainfall 450-650 mm.

The People of Babakale, like many Mediterraneans lives on growing olive trees and fishing. Olive and olive oil take  a large place in their lifes. There are  many olive plants near Babakale. When harvesting time of olives, They are  placed in baskets and carried out of the field.

 

olive press press stone

Some of them  were separated to pickle olive in brine . This type of olives are big grained and for breakfast. The small grained olives  carried  straight on to the press. The olive oils of Adramytteon region are naturel and pure olive oils. There are still stone press type olive oil press in this region.Some villagers are still produce their own olive oils at home theirselves.

 

The Producer and Seller of  Olive and Olive Oil in Babakale Region

          The Short Story of Olive and Olive Oil

          The Mediterranean Region is the craddle of the civilization which is surrounding us and also one of the homelands of the olive tree. In antiquity olive tree was the most precious one among all the other plants for Greeks and Romans. Poet Vergilius had said that human should be nourished by olive, since it is a fruit which is blessed, abundant and dedicated to peace. Ninety years after him, in the year of 60 A.D. Roman agriculturist Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella with his words ; "Olea prima omnium arborum est", had named olive tree as the queen of the trees.

Indeed olive tree was the only one which was so valuable, worthwhile and respected by the inhabitants of the Mediterranean region in antiquity. The winners of the peacefull contests and the heroes of the bloody wars were all rewarded with the olive wreaths. The wealthiness and the prosperity of the communities were depending on olive. Until the present day olive oil has always been a very important commercial commodity and a material that has taken place in our daily lives very frequently. Olive is one of the main nutritions, but besides it was the main substance for illumination in antiquity and was often used for the preperation of cosmetics and perfume. It was the main feature of the funeral and religious rituals. Olive oil has always been considered as a miracle for the human health. This fact is verified with the words of Plinius; "There are two types of liquids which are beneficial for the human body; interiorly wine and exteriorly olive oil. Both are obtained from trees but among all the trees olive tree is the most valuable."

        The scientific researches at Israel, Cyprus and Italy indicates us that a million years ago, in the third geological period the wild olive tree was existing. The fossil leaves found at Mongardino, Bologna are the main evidences verifying that statement. There are few more such examples; carbonized wild olive tree woods were found at Har Hanegev, Israel at the levels which are dating back to 45,000 B.C. and 25,000 B.C. Many carbonized olive seeds were found at aceramic Neolithic settlements. The inhabitants of Torre Canne at the south of Bari, Italy, were using the olive as a nutrition. However such examples are all about the wild plant. The olive tree was grafted and improved by human at the calcolithic age at 5000-4000 B.C. at the East Mediterranean coast. The olive oil has been started to be extracted at the same period. As a consequence of those enterpraises at the Mediterranean coast, new culture plant has became very prevelant at Cyprus, Crete and South West Anatolia. Olive oil extraction methods were invented in this area and became widespread at west. The olive oil extraction plants at the Cretan palaces indicates us that this new technology was used at Crete as early as the first half of the second millenium B.C. On account of colonization movements of Crete at Miletos and Thera the inhabitants of the Aegean Region were introduced by that new culture plant and the new technology. After Minos, at 1500-1000 B.C. Egypt, East Mediterranean, Northern Aegean region and Southern Italy the founders of the Mycenaean civilization has played the second best role in introducing the olive tree and the olive oil extraction technology to the western world. Tunusia, Sardinia and Spain at the Mediterranean region; Marocco at Atlantic; colonization movements of the Phoneciens in 1000 B.C. carried the technology to the western part of Mediterrania and even to the Atlantic. In the 8th century B.C. the communities living on the Aegean coast were attracted by the Eastern civilizations for commercial reasons and during their trips to found new colonies and emporios they gained many eastern features such as alphabet.

olive oil extraction plant         olive oil extraction plant

Such enterpraises has given them the chance to be introduced by the grafted olive tree and new technological developments related to the process for the fourth time in the history. Later in the Hellenistic and Roman periods the increasing commercial and cultural relationships and also the invasions has approached East and West to each other. By the way olive tree as a cultural plant, became prevelant and the methods of extracting olive oil became a common knowledge for the Medittereneans. Since there are not any serious archeological and paleobotanical studies in our country about olive oil production, the position of Anatolia about that process and the expansion cannot be mentioned. It is obvious that the use and the production of olive oil goes far back in the history on this land. At that point the goal of Komili company is to be a pioneer for such studies by sponsoring the excavation of the Klazomenai(Clazomenai) installation and the reconstruction of the installation and to form a recreational area about olive oil extraction process since olive oil is one of the main productions of the Komili company. There are various findings about olive oil extraction process at the prehistorical settlements. At such settlements, carbonized olive pits, separating vessels and small crushing tools have been found. At the Urla-Limantepe and Menderes-Baklatepe excavations, which are supervised by Professor Hayat Erkanal from Ankara University similar tools were found dating back to 3000-2000 B.C. However those findings are all portable which serve with a limited capacity rather than functioning as an installation.

 

Until today, the findings which can be considered as installations available for large scaled productions in Anatolia could only be dated back to either Roman or Byzantine era. The surveys carried on by Adnan Diler, who is teaching at Mugla University, at the Mediterranean region are the initiators of such studies on this topic. Since the researcher cannot reach the datable small findings during the surveys, he dates his findings by comparing them to the other examples and according to the old sources. Clazomenian olive oil extraction plant has a significance by being discovered by its own datable small findings. The archeological evidences indicate us that Clazomenian olive oil extraction plant dates back to the sixth century B.C. The certain date which may be mentioned for the Clazomenaian olive oil extraction plant is the second half of the 6th century B.C. In the fourth century B.C. the area has been inhabited and for the construction of a monumental building. The pits which were hewn into bedrock has been filled and a level was formed. Thus, the lower part of the plant is preserved until the present day.