Eine spätbyzantinische Ölpresse im Apollonheiligtum von Didyma (original) (raw)

At Didyma in 2004, find-assemblages from the middle and late Byzantine era were uncovered in two test excavations. At the south-west corner of the Temple of Apollo, in Section B North, the stone weight of an oil press and the remains of two walls were exposed, as was a further wall in Section A North. The stone weight from B North belonged to an olive oil production complex dating from the 13th century. Grooves cut into the surface of the stone weight indicate that a wooden screw was originally attached to it. The screw in turn was connected to a lever that was anchored in a wall which no longer survives but stood on the lowest krepis step of the Temple of Apollo. The press bed is still in situ, following a straight line from the stone weight to the krepis. Next to it, the Mahltasse and the grinding stone of an oil mill – necessary for the production of olive oil along with the oil press – were found in earlier excavations. On the basis of the Byzantine glazed ceramics found at the site, the first phase of the complex can be dated to the 2nd half of the 12th century, the second phase to the 13th century.