The earliest evidence found to date concerning the production of olives for eating, dating back some 6,600 years, has been found at the submerged chalcolithic site Hishulei Carmel, off the coast at Haifa, Israel. The world’s oldest olive trees were found nearby in Lebanon.

The discovery is described in a new study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports by researchers from the University of Haifa, the Technion, Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University, the Volcani Institute, and other research institutions in Israel and abroad. This discovery predates by around 4,000 years the oldest evidence of the production of olives for eating uncovered until now.

“This latest discovery completes the chain of use of olive trees, beginning with use of the wood for burning, through the production of oil some 7,000 years ago, and on to our finding, where the fruit was used for consumption,” explains Dr. Ehud Galili of the Zinman Institute of Archeology at the University of Haifa, who led the research.

What makes olives a fruit

Olives are, indeed, small fruits that grow on olive trees (Olea europaea). They belong to a group of fruit called drupes, or stone fruits, and olives are related to mangoes, cherries, peaches, almonds, and pistachios.

Olives are very high in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants. Olives are a key component of the human diet, culinary culture, and economy of the Mediterranean region. Archeological findings and written testimony shows that olive oil was used extensively for consumption, lighting, worship, hygiene, and cosmetic purposes in ancient times. However, the date when olives began to be eaten has remained a mystery.

“Historical documents attribute the first consumption of eating olives in Europe to the middle of the first millennium BCE, and in Egypt to the classical period following the conquest of Alexander the Great, so that all the evidence until now centered on the middle of the first millennium BCE,” notes Dr. Liora Kolska Horwitz of the Hebrew University.

The current study was undertaken at the Hishulei Carmel site (named after a nearby factory), which is situated approximately 500 meters south of the southernmost beaches of Haifa. The site dates back to the Middle Chalcolithic period, some 6,600 years ago. Remnants from this period are now found from the shoreline and to a distance of 120 meters, and at a depth of up to four meters under the sea.

It is believed that in this period the sea level was around three to four meters lower than today, and the coast was some 200-300 meters west of its current location, so that the site was situated on the coast in its day. No remains of residential homes have been found at the site, but the excavations have uncovered round utensils with a diameter of 1.5 meters, made from collected stones.

According to the researchers, these utensils were used as wells or storage pits. During the underwater surveys, the researchers found two oval stone structures containing thousands of saturated olive pits, most of them complete and excellently preserved. In order to identify the use made of the olives, research was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team of archeologists and botanists from 11 research institutions in Israel and abroad.

“As soon as we found the olive pits, we could see that they were different to those used to produce olive oil. In debris from oil production, the pits are mostly crushed, whereas most of the ones were found were whole,” explains Dr. Dafna Langgut of Tel Aviv University. The researchers compared the findings to pits and utensils found by Dr. Galil several years ago at another underwater site – Kfar Samir, off the coast by Dado Beach. Kfar Samir is an older site, dating back 7,000 – 7,500 years, and situated some 1,800 meters from Hishulei Carmel.

The utensils found at Kfar Samir contained crushed olive pits, as well as olive peel, and were identified as debris from the production of olive oil. As noted, the pits found at the Hishulei Carmel site were mostly whole, and no peel or other evidence was found suggesting the production of oil. Moreover, in the remnants of the pits at Kfar Samir the researchers found grains of olive pollen, which is also found today in debris at olive presses. This pollen was not found in the utensils uncovered at the Hishulei Carmel site.

Another factor supporting the assertion that the utensils were intended for the production of olives for eating is the proximity of the sire to the sea. As noted, at the time the site was on the coastline. A coastal location does not permit the storage of olives, due to high humidity which leads to the rapid development of mold.

The researchers believe, it is not logical to suggest that the facilities were used for the storage of fresh olives. Conversely, the coastal location could have provided access to vital ingredients used in the pickling of olives, such as seawater and sea salt. As part of their study, the researchers undertook a controlled examination in a food laboratory at the Technion and managed to cure olives using seawater. “The pickling of olives in the utensils discovered could have taken place after the fruit was washed repeatedly in seawater in order to reduce the bitterness, and then soaked in seawater, possibly with the addition of sea salt,” suggests Prof. Ayala Fishman of the Technion.

“The lack of olive pollen grains in the utensils, which are usually found in olive debris, supports the hypothesis that the olives were washed repeatedly, as is customary to this day when pickling lives,” adds Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of the University of Haifa. Wild olives from Mt. Carmel, and possibly olives grown in ancient groves, probably provided the raw material for the production of olive oil and olives for eating,” comment botanists Dr. Simcha Lev-Yadon, Dr. Oz Barazani, and Dr. Arnon Dag.

“We did not find any residential buildings at the Hishulei Carmel site or at Kfar Samir, but we found pits, round utensils, stone grinding basins, sieves made of twigs – and now the olive production facilities. These sites may have served as ancient “industrial zones” for the settlements along the Carmel Coast in the Chalcolithic period, beginning to produce olive oil around 7,000 years ago and olives for eating 6,600 years ago,” concludes Dr. Galili.

The post Are olives a fruit? The history of olives and olive oil appeared first on Green Prophet.

Subtitled ‘Building Economic Cooperation Among Palestinians and Israelis’, the project began in 2005 to encourage Israeli and Palestinian farmers to share technical experiences about olive cultivation, oil production and quality control.  It’s a multiyear initiative to foster cross-border, grassroots economic cooperation and build relationships based on mutual trust, understanding, and shared financial interest among Palestinians and Israelis in the olive oil industry.

Can a micro-scale farming project reverse decades of tribal conflict?

“There is no real border between Israel and Palestine,” Muhammad Hamudi, an olive farmer and oil producer from Asira al-Shamaliya, near the West Bank city of Nablus, told online magazine GOOD.  He has worked with OOWB since its start in 2011.  “Today the border is here, tomorrow it will be there. The olive oil market has no borders as well. The bridge to the global market is the same bridge for everyone.”

Supported by the NGO Near East Foundation (NEF),  the project earned a second round of funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the amount of $1.2 million, which will benefit 3,000 Palestinians and Israelis working in the business over the next three years.  Additional donors include Human Concern International, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Food Program.

Olive oil production and trade have underpinned rural economies in Palestine and Israel for generations; olive trees are woven into the fabric of these societies, with meaning far beyond economic value. Through industry cooperation, OOWB seeks to grow tolerance, indeed friendship, and mutual monetary benefits for the sector.

NEF President Charlie Benjamin told GOOD that the organization approaches its work from “a completely depoliticized perspective.” The focus is on “building economic relationships. We don’t touch the broader issues.” But he does acknowledge that when people collaborate by choice, they grow trust, improve communication, and enhance interaction beyond the limits of the agricultural program.

Ayala Noy, an oil producer from Moshav Zippori in Israel, north of Nazareth, told reporter Assaf Dudai, “It was a very important and empowering experience. Sitting down with a Palestinian farmer who tells me, with tears in his eyes, that his orchard was burned to the ground the previous night by Israeli settlers was very emotional for me. ‘How do you sleep at night?’ he asked me. I told him not very well. That was the biggest challenge for me—being a representative of Israel, dealing with the hard feelings they have toward us.”

“We brought Palestinians to our house, we showed them our mill, and we try to keep in touch by phone,” she added. “I think it gave them a chance to see ‘other’ Israelis. Many of them told me that was their first time to meet an Israeli who is not a soldier, or a settler.”

The feelings are mutual. Sumaya Sawalmeh, another farmer from Asira al-Shamaliya, said, “It was important for me to take part in the project. I came into Israel [and] for the first time in my life…left with positive feelings.” Adel Yaseen, an elderly farmer from the nearby village of Jnaid, agreed, “I made friends from Israel. The project helped us to build relationships and brought us closer.”

The project has improved olive oil production, harvesting and post-harvesting operations. Participants have also been helped in their approach to marketing, all of which has had a positive impact on the economy of 34 olive oil farming communities in Israel and West Bank. Entire families and villages in both Palestine and Israel live off the yearly cycle of the olive trees. NEF estimates that 100,000 Palestinian families work in the olive oil sector, which accounts for more than 10 percent of the state’s GDP.

“This is exactly what should be going on in the region right now—everyone coming together,” Dave Harden, USAID mission director in the Palestinian Authority, told Dudai at an OOWB farmers gathering at an orchard near Nazareth. “They are building stuff together, they’re producing higher quality products, and they’re selling them. What more can you ask for?”

Palestinian farmers have exported 3,600 metric tons of olive oil into Israel since 2013, representing $20 million in new income. Benjamin concluded, “Seventy percent of OOWB participants say they believe economic cooperation helps build additional efforts at reconciliation between the two sides.”

Olive Oil without Borders is now funded to run through 2018. Subpartners include the Peres Center for Peace, the Palestinian Center for Agricultural Research and Development, and Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

زيت الزيتون من دون حدود هو مشروع مدته ثلاث سنوات التي تنفذها مؤسسة الشرق الأدنى والممول من الوكالة الأمريكية للتنمية. الفرعي يشمل شركاء مركز بيريز للسلام والمركز الفلسطيني للبحوث الزراعية والتنمية.

‎שמן זית ללא גבולות הוא פרויקט של שלוש שנים, המיושמת על ידי המזרח הקרוב במימון USAID ושני שותפים בו מרכז פרס לשלום ומרכז פלסטין למחקר ופיתוח חקלאי

Want to learn more about this unique opportunity to promote reconciliation and collaboration between the two groups at a time when the diplomatic process is at a standstill? Visit the NEF website (link here), donations are welcome.

Need some good ideas on how to use olive oil?  Check out this story from Green Prophet archives (link here).

Image of olive pickers from the OOWB website.

The post Olive Oil Without Borders has a recipe for Middle East peace appeared first on Green Prophet.

For years I have been using Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap.  I like the tingly peppermint smell, how clean it makes my skin feel, and the fact that the ingredient list is short and organic. Last weekend, at the annual Washington DC Green Festival, I learned that not only is Dr. B’s good for my body and good for the earth, but it’s good for the Middle East, too!

As it turns out, since 2007 Dr. Bronner’s has been sourcing 100% of its organic olive oil needs from producers in Israel and the West Bank!

The majority (90%) of the oil comes from Palestinians in the West Bank.  Dr. B’s works with Canaan Fair Trade, a trading firm founded by Palestinians who “support peaceful co-existence with Israel and see profitable olive farming as one means of improving Palestinians’ economic situation.”

Canaan purchases oil from 1,700 small farmers who are organized in the Palestine Fair Trade Association.  Since Palestinian olive oil competes in the global market with subsidized oil from EU countries, oil production was not so economically lucrative in the past.  As members of the PFTA, however, small farmers who produce certified Fair Trade and Organic olive oil receive a guaranteed minimum price for the products as well as a Fair Trade premium of 25%.

Furthermore, they are able to protect the earth because the organic olive oil they produce is free of polluting pesticides and fertilizers.

On top of everything else, Dr. B’s has a certain message of peace.  The company sources the remaining 10% of their organic olive oil from Sindyanna, a cooperative of Israeli-Arab women, and the Strauss Farm, owned by an Israeli family who pioneered organic olive farming in Israel.

By mixing the olive oil of Israeli and Palestinian farmers in their soaps, Dr. B’s aims to create a powerful symbol for peaceful coexistence.  Says Gero Leson, Director of Special Operations: “We want to create cooperation among the crop growers on both sides, and this is another way to help people who are at the bottom of the social and economic ladder.  Mixing the oil with soap is only a symbolic act that is important to us and our customers, so that they can know that by mixing the oil of Israeli and Palestinian suppliers, we are supporting both of them.”

In my book, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps definitely gets an A+ for sustainable development and corporate social responsibility!

For more information about Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps’ work in Israel/Palestine, visit their website

Check out the following Prophecies for more on Fair Trade in Israel and Palestine:
SAHA’s Fairly Local Trade
No Sweat Apparel’s Organic Ts Help Bring Peace to the Middle East
Buying Fair Trade from the Hands of Local Craftswomen.

Photo Credits:  capitolhemp and shirien_87

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