- NICOSIA: A huge quantity of olive stones on an ancient shipwreck more than 2,000 years old has provided valuable insight into the diet of sailors in the ancient world, researchers in Cyprus said Thursday.
The shipwreck, dating from around 400 B.C. was discovered deep under the sea off Cyprus's southern coast. Excavation on the site, which started in November 2007, has determined that the ship was a merchant vessel of the late classical period.
"An interesting piece of evidence that gives us information on the conditions under which the sailors of antiquity lived, are the large numbers of olive pips that were found during excavation, since these pips must have been part of the crew's food supply," Cyprus's antiquities department said in a news release Thursday.
Olives and olive oil are a staple of the Mediterranean diet and their consumption over hundreds of years has been well documented.
