We know that olive oil made it into our food around 1,000 BC, but it is the first time we have laboratory evidence that it was used in smelting as a fuel.
We know that olive oil made it into our food around 1000 B.C., but it is the first time we have laboratory evidence that it was used in smelting as a fuel.
There were no storage areas for charcoal. We have discovered that to melt copper you need five kilos of olive oil, compared to 80 kilos of charcoal.
Nobody can really speak about prehistory without mentioning Cyprus. It was a filter. It took technology from the Middle East and redistributed it to the western world.
It's the first time in the history of metallurgy that this fuel has been found in place of charcoal.
The olive press and storage facilities were in the middle of two areas where copper was worked. It shows that for sure they used olive oil. Can you imagine building an olive press in the middle of a metallurgy plant? Why?
