Olive-tree, environment and culture
Since ancient times, the olive-tree has contributed, in practical and symbolic terms, to the economy, health, and haute cuisine of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean. The significance that the olive tree has had for the life and the economy of the ancient world in the eastern Mediterranean area is evident in the appearance of the olive tree in the myths of the people who lived there. Everything involved in the olive production process was of use in a traditional society. The by-product of oil production, the olive seed, was used in the past as food for domestic animals, as fertilizer, and as fuel. Oil symbolism rests upon observation and the complex of beliefs concerning its therapeutic properties. In particular, the “agourólado” (green olive oil produced by crushing the olives without the use of hot water) was, and still is, one of the most important natural medicines for various illnesses. Olive oil was used to worship the Gods and to care for and honor the dead. Besides these vital spiritual functions, it also enjoyed prolific use in ancient medicine. But it also played an important role in ancient athletics.
[Aikaterini Polymerou-Kamilakis. The Culture of the Olive Tree (Mediterranean World), Editor(s): Dimitrios Boskou. Olive Oil (Second Edition), AOCS Press, (2006), ISBN 9781893997882, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-1-893997-88-2.50005-5]
Olive-gathering Attic black-figured amphora attributed to the Antimenes painter, around 520 BC, British Museum
[https://messaramuseum.gr/site/dynamic-mouseio.shtml?type=page&id=477&lang=en]
Olive trees have been cultivated throughout the Mediterranean basin since 6,500 BC and have had an enormous impact on the economy, history, culture, and environment of the area. The ancient Greeks and Romans considered olive oil as a sacred substance, as it was used in food, medicine, soap, fuel for lamps and raw material for perfumes. There is a large amount of archaeological remains that show evidence of the cultivation, extraction, trade and consumption of oil of olive in the prominent civilizations throughout the Mediterranean region. The first evidence of olive cultivation occurs in Crete during the Neolithic period, based on findings of olive seeds in numerous sites associated with this period (6-3 thousand years BC).
[Hernández, Juan & Pereira, Jorge & Urieta, Daniel & Sánchez, Antonio & Caño, Sergio & Barreal, Jesús & Velasco, Maria & Puentes-Poyatos, Raquel, (2018). INTERNATIONAL OLIVE GROWING: Worldwide Analysis and Summary, INTERNATIONAL OLIVE GROWING: Worldwide Analysis and Summary, January 2018, Publisher: Fundación Caja Rural de Jaén, ISBN: 978-84-946394-9-4]
No other tree or plant, with the exception of wheat, has had the same importance in the history of our species as the olive, capable of influencing nutrition, culture, and religion and contributing to the birth of modern Mediterranean civilization. The unmistakable gnarled and curved branches of olive trees have shaped the Mediterranean landscape and their fruits have provided sustenance to numerous civilizations, from the Middle East to Greece, from Italy to Spain. “Two are the liquids particularly pleasing to the human body: inside the wine, outside the oil,” wrote Pliny the Elder in his famous treatise Natural History. “Oil is an absolute necessity and man was not wrong in dedicating his efforts to obtain it.”
Thanks to the Greeks, the olive tree spread around the Mediterranean. It was considered very important in Greek culture and is mentioned in Greek mythology, “Poseidon, god of the sea, and Athena, daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom”, competed to win possession of protection over Athens. Poseidon hit the rock with his trident (on which the Acropolis would rise) and from this, he made a source of seawater come out and a horse faster than the wind. Athena planted the first olive tree, a tree that, for millennia, with its fruits would give a wonderful juice that men could use for the preparation of food, for the care of the body, for the healing of wounds and diseases, and as a source of light for homes. Thucydides (5th century BC) wrote that “The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate olive trees and vines.”
After the Greeks who favored the spread of the olive tree in the Mediterranean, the Romans took on the task of bringing the cultivation of this plant to greater development. The olive tree was planted everywhere in the empire, so much so that the Roman Empire imposed the payment of taxes in the form of olive oil. Also, thanks to them the production process improved, there was a distinction made between different types of oil connected to the moment of pressing, (5 species of oil were identified). Even in Roman mythology, oil had a certain importance in fact it was Hercules who introduced the olive tree from North Africa and then the goddess Minerva would have taught men the art of cultivation and extraction of oil. As usual, with the fall of the Roman Empire, olive cultivation also experienced a period of decline, The olive tree played an important role in various fields, including in sport— Greek athletes anointed themselves with olive oil before fighting and the winners of the Olympics were crowned with sacred olive branches and rewarded with richly decorated oil ampoules. Both the Greeks and the Romans used olive oil in the preparation of numerous recipes; moreover, it was widely used for therapeutic, medicinal, balsamic, and detergent purposes or as a fuel for votive lamps.
[Stefano Grego, (2022). The Olive Tree: A Symbol, Chapter in book: Olive Cultivation [Working Title], https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/81005, http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102827]
Poseidon and Athena
[Stefano Grego, (2022). The Olive Tree: A Symbol, Chapter in book: Olive Cultivation [Working Title], https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/81005, http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102827]
The presence of the olive tree as a symbol and in myths goes back a long way and has its roots in prehistory. Over time, these plants have lent themselves to numerous interpretations—for Homer, the olive tree was a symbol of peace and life. The Greek poet also included it in the Odyssey—it was in fact an olive tree trunk, a plant sacred to Athena, the one with which Ulysses blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus. It was also considered an emblem of strength and victory, in ancient Greece, the winners of the Olympics were offered a wreath of olive trees and a cruet of oil. The deep bond between the Hellenic country and the olive tree is certified by the legend according to which the goddess Athena struck the rock with her spear, giving birth to the first olive tree in the world. Even in ancient Rome, olive oil, an indispensable product in daily life and an ingredient of Roman cuisine, and the plant from which the precious fruits were born were revered. The myth has it that Romulus and Remus, the twin protagonists of the Roman mythological tradition, were born right under an olive tree. The ancient Egyptians believed instead that it was the goddess Isis who revealed the properties of the olive tree to man and taught him the art of cultivating and producing oil. The Olive tree is so strongly associated with peace, rebirth, and victory, that it is hardly surprising that it has become one of the main symbols of Easter, a sign of rebirth and regeneration. According to the scriptures, it was after the Great Flood that Noah received an olive branch from a dove, which from that moment became the symbol of the promise of rebirth, of a new beginning, and of regeneration.
The history of the Olive tree is lost, intertwined, in the history of humanity. All we can get from the symbolism of this tree are some Greek/Roman customs and practices that attest to its importance also for polytheistic religions. For example, in Greece, the olive tree was considered a sacred tree, to the point that anyone caught damaging or cutting it was exiled. At the Olympics, an olive crown was given to the winner, along with an oil cruet. But not only—in Athens, a particular olive tree was recognized as the first olive tree in the world, which was, therefore, treated with great respect and considered sacred, as connected to the goddess Athena, Patroness of the city. The custom of crowning with an olive tree was not lost and it seems was also imported to Rome, where this particular crown was used to honor the most valiant citizens, against the more famous laurel wreath which was instead taken as a symbol of victory and domain. More likely, however, the Catholic symbolism of the Olive tree derives from a synthesis of these pagan meanings and the more well-known Hebrew meaning, mentioned earlier in reference to the Old Testament.
[Stefano Grego, (2022). The Olive Tree: A Symbol, Chapter in book: Olive Cultivation [Working Title], https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/81005, http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102827]
Symbolic wreath of olive branches
[Stefano Grego, (2022). The Olive Tree: A Symbol, Chapter in book: Olive Cultivation [Working Title], https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/81005, http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102827]
We are aware that the landscape contributes to the formation of local cultures and that it is a basic component of the European natural and cultural heritage, contributing to human well-being and consolidation of the European identity. The landscape is, therefore, the heterogeneous set of all the elements, processes, and interactions that make up the ecosphere, considered in its unitary and differentiated structure and in which the activities of nature and man are integrated, in their historical dimension. Material, cultural, and spiritual. “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” certified in 2005 that “The presence of the olive tree has marked not only the landscape but also the everyday lives of the Mediterranean peoples. As a mythical and sacred tree, it is associated with their rites and customs and has influenced their lifestyles, creating a specific ancient civilization, the “Olive Tree Civilization”: the Routes of the Olive Tree follow in the footsteps of this civilization, from Greece toward the Euro-Mediterranean countries.
The olive tree dates back millions of years. Wild olive trees, ancestors of the domesticated ones, can still be seen in the Peloponnese, Crete, North Africa, and the Middle East, their places of origin. The relationship between this tree and human civilization has produced an immensely rich, living cultural heritage, embedded in the everyday habits of the Mediterranean people. From gastronomy, with the crucial influence of olive oil, to art and traditions, the social development of these areas has been largely shaped by the olive tree”. The olive tree participates in the formation of a multiplicity of landscapes in relation to the different cultural structures that have been defined in the long process of adaptation of the species to the different environmental characteristics of the places. uneven orography of the most disadvantaged areas, to the more or less specialized systems of the hilly areas, to the intensive monoculture of the plains.
In addition to the landscape diversity dictated by the cultivation practices, strongly changing aesthetic connotations are impressed on the territory by the different olive models adopted, the result of that continuous centuries-old adaptation of cultivation techniques to environmental conditions, whether linked to the company structure and to the edaphic and climatic conditions or the economic and social structure that has gone through human history, where the olive trees were associated with a myriad of other crops, which ensured the livelihood of peasant families, reinforcing the typical geometries of poly-cultural systems (olive trees placed at the edge of the vineyards or between the rows, inserted together with almond and carob trees, confined within the vegetable gardens or placed at the edge of citrus groves) or interrupting the monotony of progress of arable land.
[Stefano Grego, (2022). The Olive Tree: A Symbol, Chapter in book: Olive Cultivation [Working Title], https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/81005, http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102827]
The domestication of plants and animals has been an essential step in the emergence of human cultures. Domestication events generally began several millennia ago, and were superimposed on human-mediated dispersions over long distances and recurrent crossings between cultivars and wild forms. Among the old crops of the Mediterranean basin, the olive tree (Olea europaea ssp European L) is the most emblematic species for its ecological, economic and cultural importance, and is considered one of the best biological indicators of climate and has accompanied the emergence of the first civilizations. The importance of olive cultivation in the life of these civilizations turned this species into a symbol of ancient sacred literature.
[Hernández, Juan & Pereira, Jorge & Urieta, Daniel & Sánchez, Antonio & Caño, Sergio & Barreal, Jesús & Velasco, Maria & Puentes-Poyatos, Raquel, (2018). INTERNATIONAL OLIVE GROWING: Worldwide Analysis and Summary, INTERNATIONAL OLIVE GROWING: Worldwide Analysis and Summary, January 2018, Publisher: Fundación Caja Rural de Jaén, ISBN: 978-84-946394-9-4]
Even since the Roman Age, olive cultivation spread to the entire Mediterranean basin. This longevous tree integrates and identifies economically, socially, and culturally the inhabitants of this basin and determines its rural landscape. For the residents of the Mediterranean, olive oil constituted the main source of nutritional fats, their most valuable export product, and was identified with their culture. Even now, olive cultivation has a multiple importance for the Mediterranean. The olive groves, which grow mostly on inclined, shallow, and low fertility soils, and on hand-made stone terraces, have limited watering requirements and sustain the fragile natural resources of the Mediterranean.
Today, olive cultivation in the Mediterranean is an additional income source and supports the population in rural areas during the winter period, which profit from summer and sea tourism activity. Although an agro-ecosystem, the olive grove resembles the natural Mediterranean ecosystem and abandonment transforms them into natural Mediterranean type forests. Their change of use from olive cultivation to pasture degrades the ecosystem and decreases the natural resources, because of over-grazing. At this time, two major factors threaten the traditional olive cultivation (i) the competition of the intensive olive groves in plain and irrigated areas and (ii) the cheaper seed-oils, which intensify the abandonment of traditional olive groves and change them into pasture, resulting in the deterioration of the ecosystem. Olive cultivation has left its mark on life in the Mediterranean and has contributed to the sustainability of natural resources. Nevertheless, it succumbs under the pressure of current socioeconomic situations. Today, the conservation of olives in production constitutes a necessity for the fragile Mediterranean ecosystems and a challenge for everybody involved.
[Loumou, Angeliki & Giourga, Christina. (2003). Olive groves: “The life and identity of the Mediterranean”. Agriculture and Human Values. 20. 87-95. 10.1023/A:1022444005336]
Olive tourism (OT) is an emerging special tourism type, as testified by increasing scientific research and relevant OT services. The latter are offered both by traditional and nontraditional olive producers, addressing domestic and outbound tourist segments. Despite the olive’s diachronic existence in Greece and its vital economic, environmental and sociocultural contribution, scientific literature concerning OT in Greece is almost nonexistent. Furthermore, the olive’s significance as a timeless, intangible cultural heritage of Greece’s local communities, defining their way of life, identities and cultures, is largely undervalued. This paper examines the potential for developing OT in Messenia, at the Peloponnese (Greece), where the olive culture dates back to the Mycenaean era and still constitutes the life blood and intangible cultural heritage of local communities. An informed situational analysis is composed, based on primary and secondary data collected during the “Olive4All –Olive Heritage for Sustainable Development” European project (funded by JPI Cultural Heritage). The main results support that the development of OT products in Messenia could create win-win situations for both visitors and local stakeholders, supporting the area’s sustainable development in its financial, social, cultural and environmental dimensions. Nonetheless, there are a number of factors gravely threatening the olive’s landscapes, intangible culture and production, the impact of which could spill over the financial and sociocultural sectors with damaging results.
[Kouri, Maria. (2024). OLIVE HERITAGE AND TOURISM IN MESSENIA: A PATH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Sustainable Development, Culture, Traditions Journal. 2004 – B. 16-35. 10.26341/issn.2241-4002-2024-4b-2-T02071]
Olive cultivation, an icon of Mediterranean agriculture, economy, and cultural heritage, faces significant challenges due to climate change and soil degradation. Climate projections indicate that altered precipitation patterns, rising temperatures, and increased frequency of extreme weather events will adversely affect olive tree growth, fruit quality, and yield. This review provides a novel perspective on addressing these challenges through both long-term and short-term adaptation strategies, emphasizing innovative products, advanced technologies, and practical solutions that must work synergistically and be tailored to regional conditions. Long-term practices refer to proactive strategies for enduring climate resilience, including cover cropping, mulching, soil amendments, and breeding programs which enhance soil health, improve water retention, and increase the trees’ resilience. Short-term strategies focus on immediate impacts, offering immediate stress relief and enhanced plant physiological responses, including optimized irrigation systems, pruning management, particle coating films, bio-stimulants, and plant growth regulators. The review underscores the importance of aligning agricultural practices with sustainability goals and evolving environmental policies and the education of farmers and policymakers. By integrating adaptive practices and technological advancements, the olive sector can better address climate challenges, contribute to global food security, and advance environmental sustainability.
[Martins, Sandra & Pereira, Sandra & L-T, Dinis & Brito, Cátia. (2024). Enhancing Olive Cultivation Resilience: Sustainable Long-Term and Short-Term Adaptation Strategies to Alleviate Climate Change Impacts. Horticulturae, 10. 1066. 10.3390/horticulturae10101066.]
Climatic extreme events, like droughts, heatwaves, and floods are becoming recurrent and represent a threat to agriculture, lowering plant growth and productivity. The Mediterranean region is a climate-change hotspot, where traditional agricultural systems, like olive groves, are particularly challenged. Both the traditional and intensive systems of olive culture coexist in the Mediterranean. Both systems differ in their demands for water and agrochemicals, but nowadays, the global inputs of agrochemicals and irrigation have increased to achieve high productivity and profitability. Finding sustainable alternatives to maintain high productivity under the ongoing climate change is urgent to meet the EU-Farm to Fork strategy and climate neutrality. Candidate eco-friendly alternatives include bio-stimulants. These are substances or microorganisms, that activate signaling cascades and metabolic processes, increasing plant yield, quality, and tolerance to stressors. These benefits include a better growth, nutritional status and water availability, leading to a decreased demand for irrigation and agrochemicals. In this review, we aim to present different types of bio-stimulants (e.g., seaweed, protein hydrolysates, humic substances, microorganisms and nanomaterials), their mode of action and benefits in agriculture. We also explore the current state-of-the-art regarding the use of bio-stimulants in olive culture, and their potential benefits to increase tolerance to (a)biotic challenges.
[Dias, M.C.; Araújo, M.; Silva, S.; Santos, C. Sustainable Olive Culture under Climate Change: The Potential of Bio-stimulants. Horticulturae (2022), 8, 1048. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8111048]
oLIVE CLIMA’s actions in the application areas through photographic material – Preservation of natural vegetation during the winter period in olive groves
[https://oliveclima.eu/dikaiouxoi/], [https://oliveclima.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/email5-2.jpg]
Olive cultivation is considered as one of the most significant agricultural activities in Greece, from a financial, social and ecological point of view. Agriculture is widely considered as a major part of the climate problem. The environmentally friendly agricultural practices, suggested by oLIVE-CLIMA LIFE project, implemented for 5 years, to 3 different areas, in 120 olive groves and thousands of olive trees from 52 farmers. The three different pilot areas are located in west Peloponnese, Hora Messinias (NILEAS – Agricultural Cooperative for Standardized Products-Messinia) and in Crete, namely the area of Peza near Heraklion and the area of Mirabello, in Lasithi (Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Peza, and Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Mirabello, respectively).
The project LIFE 11 ENV/GR/942 oLIVE CLIMA succeeded in its target to introduce farming practices that enhance carbon sequestration and permanent storage, as part of CO2 is removed for more than 100 years from the atmosphere. Thus, olive products may be the only food deserving carbon credits, a benefit that may be commercially useful to producers for promotion of olive oil. The practices introduced by oLIVE CLIMA proved to be economically more sustainable than their traditional counterparts, allowing a strong anticipation for yields increase and reduction of production cost. In parallel, yield increase without additional inputs, lowers the carbon – environmental footprint of the product with regard to several environmental impact categories.
[G. Michalopoulos, K. A. Kasapi, G. Koubouris, G. Psarras, G. Arampatzis, E. Hatzigiannakis, V. Kavvadias, C. Xylogiannis, G. Montanaro, S. Malliaraki, A. Angelaki, C. Manolaraki, G. Giakoumaki, S. Reppas, G. Kokkinos, (2019). Climate change effect mitigation through cultivation practices in olive trees. Adapt2Clima Conference, Heraklion, Crete, Greece http://uest.ntua.gr/adapt2clima/proceedings/pdf/ADAPTtoCLIMATE2019_%20Michalopoulos_etal.pdf]