Un arbre millénaire

The oleaster, the wild olive which botanists consider to be the ancestor of the domestic olive, is believed to have appeared in Eastern Africa around 50,000 years ago. Il would seem to have been grown to the east and west of the Mediterranean from Neolithic times, 5,000 years B.C. During Antiquity, the Greeks and the Gauls were already producing olive oil in Provence, before the Romans ever arrived. During the Greco-Roman period, the oleaster was used for perfume and as a remedy, while the domestic olive was used for cooking, body care and lighting. The nutritional properties of the olive have only recently been identified, ever since the discovery of the so-called Cretan diet, which "produces" hundred-year olds. Regular intake of olive oil does seem to help prevent cardio-vascular diseases.