the plain of olive trees in puglia: a history of thousands...

“The plain of olive trees in Puglia: a history of thousands of years”

Cultural Heritage Conservation and Sustainability Mariagiulia LONGO



LOCATION The area is located in Italy, specifically in Puglia; this region is situed in the Southeastern part of the country.

In Puglia there is a portion of land known as “the plain of olive trees”, bounded by the towns of Ostuni, Fasano, Monopoli and Carovigno where the highest concentration of ancient olive trees, with plants that could have an estimated age of nearly 3,000 years dating back to the ancient Messapi.

The Murgia, on whose foothills south east is the site, is a karst area. And on the other side there is the coast of the Adriatic Sea.



HISTORYThe Phoenicians and Greeks were the first to spread the cultivation of olive trees in this area of Southern Italy, then it has been continued by the Arabs, Messapi and Romans. Here there is the highest concentration of old plants in the world, representing the oldest agricultural arboreal landscape existing. In these groves there are many historical and cultural, archaeological and architectural examples. An example is given by a Roman road that crosses the plain of olive trees of Fasano, Ostuni and Carovigno ending with Trajan columns on the port of Brindisi.The Trajan was an ancient Roman road built in 109 AD by Trajan, on a pre-existing route of the Republican era.



In Puglia there are over 60 million of olive trees of which 15 million are a hundred years old and 5 million olive trees are considered secular monuments and specially protected. The “secular olive trees” are the landmark of the whole Apulia. Moreover, the magnificence of the olive is sung by the poets of the Old Testament. In their metaphors the olive tree symbolizes salvation and prosperity.

RELIGION



The olive branch is a symbol of peace in the whole world. In Greek mythology it is said that the goddess Athena offered it to the Athenians, as a token of peace, after defeating the god Poseidon. The olive tree we find in many biblical stories: a dove bears it in its beak when that returning to Noah after the flood; Jesus went to pray in the Garden of Olives, and the crowd was celebrating Jesus raising twigs to his entry into Jerusalem. The olive tree, then, in addition to being a symbol of peace, has a fundamental value in the Easter period, as sign to commemorate the entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Oil is a source of wealth because it lends itself to different uses and different applications.The oil, since ancient times, was used for lighting.It was also used in antiquity also to prepare perfumes.



WHAT’S A CULTURAL LANDSCAPE? Landscape refers both to a way of viewing the environment surrounding us and to this environment itself. The term “cultural” has been added to express the human interaction with the environment and the presence of tangible and intangible cultural values in the landscape. So far a cultural landscape can be definied as “a concrete and characteristic product of the interplay between a given human community, embodying certain cultural preferences and potentials, and a particular set of natural circumstances. It is a heritage of many eras of natural evolution and of many generation of human effort”. [Wagner and Miskell]



In agricultural societies of Africa, the Pacific, Asia, Europe and meso-America, the “cultural landscape” values can be found in the way people have shaped the land, as well as in myths, beliefs, stories and other productions often related to fertility. In the case of the olive trees plantations, all the cultivated lands have been shaped in order to mantain the existing trees in their initial place. In this way the landscape is not changed by the men and it keeps his original function and soul.



THE WORLD HERITAGE CRITERIAThis kind of landscape can be part of the “Cultural Landscape Category”, (ii) as: The organically evolved landscape This results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed its pre-sent form by association with and in response to its natural environment. Such landscapes reflect that process of evolution in their form and component features. Particularely the second sub-category: -a continuing landscape is one which retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress. At the same time it exhibits significant material evi-dence of its evolution over time.



AUTENTICITY CRITERIAConditions of autenticity is that “the site is truthful and it is a genuine and authentic representation of what it claims to be. Even tough cultural heritage resources in the landscape can be classified according to type or historic functions, each individual site would still be assessed for its specificity and uniqueness, its genius loci”.



INTEGRITY CRITERIAThe word “integrity” means “wholeness, completeness, unimpaired or uncorrupted condition, continuation of traditional uses and social fabric”. This criteria in the context of Cultural Landscape is “the extent to which the layered historic evidence, meanings and relationship between elements remains intact and can be interpreted in the landscape. It is also the integrity of the relationship with the nature that matters, not the integrity of nature itself”.



PHENOLOGY OF THE TREEThe olive harvest, perhaps the most delicateoperation for its effects on the quality of the oil. The grower knows the correct degree of ripeness of the olives, know that this affects the quality and quantity of oil. The collection of local varieties takes place between the beginning of November (early ripe-ning of olives) and the end of December (maturing forwarded). Use of various collection systems, each suited to the type of the olive and the characteristics of the soil and the plant.



Traditional system: spontaneously or because pushed by the wind, the ripe olives fall to the ground on pitches prepared at the foot of the plant and were then gathered manually with brooms.

Nowadays: use of machines as facilitators sweeping machines, which can also be provided with collecting basket. These machines greatly decreasing the time and costs of this laborious operation.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND MEN: TECHNIQUES



In some areas of Puglia and Salento, the collection is done manually by stripping that involves removing the olives one by one directly from the plant. This method is the best to obtain a quality product. The shaking and combing instead allow the olives fall, due to the poles which beat the branches or special combs that cross them. The olives fall on special nets placed on the ground and then are transferred to the grinding.



Olive growing uses a lot of modern machines facilitators collection as shakers that by vibrating the branches or trunk of the plant causing the fall of the olives. These can be intercepted in mid-air (umbrellas) or on the ground by special nets resting on the ground. The transfer takes place in the mill using powerful vacuum cleaners that convey the olives on special wagons collection. Another collection system makes use of small shakers carried on the shoulders by operators cause vibrations less energy compared with large shakers. These small machines in addition to determining a significant acceleration of the collection, being able to work on the smaller branches of the plants and therefore more elastic, also allow a lower mechanical stress of the plant.



THE IRRIGATION SYSTEMThe olive tree is a plant that has little need for water, but prolonged water shortages may cause serious damage to the olive trees as fruit drop and low production. A rational water supply has many benefits including: -Accelerate the formation of the plant, which comes first in production;

-increased production (up to 20-40%);

-better production, hindering the alternation.

The irrigation methods recommended are those microflows, spray and drop; are fundamental irrigations performed, especially in dry years, the phenological stages ranging from fruit (June) until the fruits growth drupes for cell expansion (August).



The pruning of the olive may not be performed every year: it must work to suit the needs and the space that are available. The important, in any case, is to prefer the months of late winter or early spring, February-March, in which the plant has not yet started the first stage of fruiting.

The main adroitness in making pruning are:

-recognize the younger branches and the older ones, going to preserve the first; -largely eliminate the internal branches that obstruct more a good illumination of the whole plant. The cuts of the branches must be precise and net; it is important that the bark is not damaged, so as to prevent the occurrence of future problems including diseases.

THE PRUNING OF THE OILIVE TREES



This kind of landscape, to be kept as it was thousands of years ago needs to be preserved. The purpose of management of cultural landscapes is to protect the outstanding value for present and future generations. Guiding Principles: the approach to managementshould be directly related to the value and characteristics of the cultural landscape in question.

Management process: landscape assessment, plannning, implementation, monitoring and adaptative management.

Sustaining management: this section focuses on management and governance capacity, funding, strategies and capacity building.

PRESERVATION & MANAGEMENT



The olive trees are veritable living monuments, to protect, preserve, defend, because in this way it also means to preserve that balance of resources, flora and fauna typical of Apulia. In the region there is also a law which governs the protection, maintenance and enhancement of particular plants of olive trees, with facilities for farmers owners of monumental olive trees that should be given priority in regional funding. The law prohibits the killing of the trees. [Law 144, 14/02/1951]



In the region there are some associations, which take care of the management of the whole areas of olive trees, and at the same time, they try to let tourists, but also people from the close cities, to know better all the history of this beautiful landscape, organizing tours, walks, itinerary through the fields and events. All this activities give values to the landscape, and especially, a bigger interaction with it.



The intangible cultural heritage is traditional and living at the same time. It is constantly recreated and mainly trasmitted orally.

Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our

ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social

practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce

traditional crafts.



THANK YOU

the plain of olive trees in puglia: a history of thousands...

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