PAINTINGS, PRESSES AND PERFUME PRODUCTION AT POMPEII

Summary. An unusual type of olive press, operated by wedges being driven into an upright frame, is known from four paintings found at Pompeii and Herculaneum. The technological and socio-economic evidence contained in these depictions is presented in detail, together with supporting literary and archaeological information. It is established that the wedge press was essentially a specialised machine employed in the production of very high quality olive oil by or for the perfume industry (for which Campania was famed). The choice of the scene as decoration for wealthy houses indicates a connection between the urban elite and the various activities which comprised perfume manufacture. Furthermore, a number of finds of press beds from Pompeii which have in the past been identified (and reconstructed) as the remains of screw presses, can now be reinterpreted as wedge presses serving the town's perfume industry. The combination of the various categories of evidence (pictorial, literary, archaeological) creates a window on an area of Pompeian economic life which has hitherto been little appreciated.