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Old August 12th, 2001, 06:52 AM
sallypointer@yahoo.co.uk
 
Posts: n/a
Experimental archaeology and Olive Oil.

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<pre>First of all, Hi,

I'm an experimental archaeologist based in Wales, and I'm currenlty
researching early perfume and cosmetic composition.
I need a bit of help sourcing a particular type of olive oil used in
antiquity and I'm hoping that someone here might be able to help.

The oil in question was known as Omphacion during the greek and roman
period and was pressed about now, during august from unripe olives.
It was preferred for perfume making because it had a
realtively 'ungreasy' feel on the skin and absorbed rapidly. It
apparently had a fairly short shelf life of a year and naturally
yielded less than oil pressed from fully ripe olives.

Do any of you know where I can get a small amount (probably just a
few litres) of this, or would anyone like to contribute to this
research project by attempting a small pressing for me? I'm on a nil
budget but I'll happily cover costs as far as I can and naturally
you'd get full credit in the final paper or publication as well as
samples of any reconstructed preperations made with this oil.

Any ideas??

Sally

PS I'm also trying to grow an olive, but Wales isn't famous for its
olive groves and I'm not holding out much hope...
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