Olive Oil Production Hub Excavated in Turkey

ANTALYA, TURKEY—The Anadolu Agency reports that excavations at Syedra, a 3,000-year-old city site on Turkey’s southern coastline, suggest it was a center for olive oil production. “Through excavations, we have uncovered nearly 20 olive oil workshops,” said Ertuğ Ergürer of Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University. “Beyond that, we have identified over 100 such workshops across the entire ancient city,” he added. Olive oil was usually produced outside a city’s walls, he explained, but at Syedra, evidence for the production of olive oil was detected under nearly every building. The olive oil was likely used locally and shipped from Syedra to North Africa and the Levant, he concluded. For more on the archaeology of Turkey's southern coast, go to "Funny Business."