The production of wine and olive oil in the Middle Ebro Valley

Abstract

All the works by María Ángeles Mezquíriz on the wine production in the present time Navarre clearly showed the existence of a powerful wine industry along the midd- le course of the Ebro, from the mid 1st century up to the 3rd century AD. Nowadays, there are an increasing number of available examples in order to analyze not only this production but also the trading oil production. The high output that has been found in this area of the Ebro during this time of the Empire indicates the existence of a trading wine culture, and probably an important oil production as well. This production exceeds the provisioning necessities of the cities on the riversides. Because of the absence of ceramic containers for marketing, it is impossible to draw with certainty the trading routes where these products were commercialized, apparently in perishable containers such as cuppa or cullei. In this project we are considering these products to be commer- cialized by land throughout the many roads that connected these areas with the centre of the Peninsula and the Cantabrian coasts. The disuse of these large facilities in the 3rd century AD and the appearance of smaller torcularia used to supply local markets show the market reduction, which was very typical during the decline of the Empire.