Daily Archives: April 28, 2013

Mycenae, Peloponnese. An area with a history of 5.000 years in olive oil!

The cities of Mycenae and Argos, place of origin of the most important royal family of Ancient Greece, the Atreid dynasty, were famous during ancient times not only for the wealth of the area in gold but also for their civilization. A civilization which in antiquity meant engagement not only with the arts and literature but also with the land. The land they were learning how to exploit, to plough, to grow, to live with it and live through it.

The clay tablets of Linear B syllabic script that were discovered in Mycenae and Pylos, provide evidence of an economy based on the trade of olive derived goods such as olive oil and olives among the most important. What is extremely interesting is that these ancient civilizations utilized three different symbols to depict the words olive, olive tree and olive oil underlining the importance of these words in their language.

Today, the Peloponnesians continue their passionate affair with olive oil which started 5000 years ago.
Information source Kotsonis Estate