Wine and Oil Processing at Roman Farms in Italy

THE PROCESSES USED in the production of wine and olive oil were a central feature of agricultural practice in Roman Italy.1 It is therefore not surprising that the facilities required for these processes were an important part of many Roman farm buildings. Structural remains excavated at numerous farm sites in Italy can be interpreted as belonging to buildings purposely constructed for the processing of wine or oil.2 Yet the precise relationship of the excavated material to the different stages of the processing of these products has not always been clearly defined. Because both processes principally involve the extraction of a liquid from a fruit, they are sufficiently similar that scholars have even sometimes been uncertain whether excavated features should be related to the production of wine or of oil, or indeed of both.3 Furthermore the application of certain technical terms used by the Roman agronomists to excavated features has not been consistent. We are fortunate that a number of ancient descriptions of these processes have survived but, although these have recently attracted several commentators,4 there is