La cultura dell'olio d'oliva nel Mediterraneo orientale tra il II e il I millennio a.C.

The cultivation of the olive tree and the production of olive oil are at the center of the cultural background and of the technological and productive development of the Mediterranean civilizations sincethe 4thmillennium BC, when the first cultivation and pressing systems were developed in southern Levant. Analyzing various case studies, it is possible to identify some fundamental stages in the development of an actualculture of olive oil which,during the 2ndmillenniumBC,spreadsfrom the Levant to the Aegean and Egypt, with the acquisition of agricultural skills and reworking of technological models.