Image Credit: Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Second Largest Roman Oil Mill Found in Tunisia

Archaeologists working in central Tunisia have uncovered one of the most impressive olive oil production complexes ever identified in the Roman Empire. The discovery, made in the Kasserine region near the ancient city of Cillium, includes a monumental torcularium — an olive-pressing facility — now recognized as the second-largest Roman oil mill known to date.
The excavation is part of an international mission co-directed by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Since 2025, the team has been studying two ancient olive estates deep within the Jebel Semmama mountains, an area whose harsh continental climate and rocky highlands once made it ideal for olive cultivation. During Roman times, Tunisia served as the empire’s main supplier of olive oil, a product essential for cooking, medicine, athletics, and even lighting.
One of the key sites, Henchir el Begar — ancient Saltus Beguensis — was a major rural estate mentioned in Latin inscriptions from the second century AD. These texts record a senate consultation from 138 AD permitting the creation of a bimonthly market, highlighting the site’s importance in the region’s social and economic life.
The estate spreads across roughly 33 hectares and is divided into two sectors, each with its own olive presses, cisterns, and water-collection systems. At Hr Begar 1, archaeologists have uncovered a monumental oil mill equipped with twelve massive beam presses, the largest ever found in Tunisia. A second facility at Hr Begar 2 contains eight additional presses of similar design. Both complexes were active between the third and sixth centuries AD, indicating centuries of continuous production.
Surface finds, such as stone millstones, suggest that the estate also produced cereals, pointing to a diversified agricultural economy. Recent ground-penetrating radar surveys have revealed additional residential buildings and roads, confirming that the estate functioned as a well-organized rural community inhabited by Roman colonists and local populations.
The mission is part of a broader scientific collaboration between researchers from Tunisia, Italy, and Spain, aimed at advancing the archaeology of ancient production systems. Excavations have also recovered objects from later periods, including a decorated copper-and-brass bracelet and architectural fragments reused in Byzantine structures.
According to Prof. Luigi Sperti of Ca’ Foscari University, the discovery offers a rare window into the agricultural and economic infrastructure of Roman Africa. He noted that olive oil held a central role in daily Roman life, and understanding its production and distribution helps illuminate broader patterns of trade and cultural exchange across the Mediterranean.

Published on: 18-11-2025

Source: Phys.org