Romans Made Olive Oil in Tunisia

Archaeologists excavating at Henchir el-Begar in central Tunisia have uncovered one of the largest olive-oil production complexes of the Roman world, revealing monumental beam presses and industrial-scale infrastructure from antiquity. Olive Oil Times

The description of the press is very similar to the method we used on our stone ground mill over 20 years ago. This lends credence to the old adage, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” Each of the 20 presses at the site could press 1 ton of olives per day which produced more oil than the local populace could use so they apparently exported a lot of the olive oil.

Our Barouni is originally an olive from Tunisia. We are one of the only producers to produce this variety in the US. We think it produces an excellent robust oil.

Click on the link above to read more about this fascinating ancient site.