Ertug Linseed Oil and Oil Mills in Central Turkey, 2000

8/10/2019 Ertug Linseed Oil and Oil Mills in Central Turkey, 2000

1/16

Linseed Oil and Oil Mills in Central Turkey Flax/Linum and Eruca, Important Oil Plants ofAnatoliaAuthor(s): Fsun ErtuSource: Anatolian Studies, Vol. 50 (2000), pp. 171-185Published by: British Institute at AnkaraStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3643022.

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2/16

Linseed oil and

oil mills

in

central

Turkey

Flax/Linum

and

Eruca,

important

oil

plants

of

Anatolia*

Fuiisun

rtug

BodrumResearchCentre

for

Useful Plants

Introduction

This article is a

preliminarycase-studyconcerning

the

importance

of flax/Linum and Eruca as oil

plants

in

central

Anatolia. Linseed oil

('beziryagi')

was

produced

from both Linumand Eruca

seeds,

and this oil was used

in Anatolian

culinary

culture,

in addition to

olive,

sesame, cotton,

poppy,

sunflower,

hazel,

Cephalaria,

safflower

and

hackberry

oils. Linseed oil

was

also

used

in oil

lamps,

to oil

wooden-wheeled

carts and to rubon

the

skins

of

water-buffalo. Both linseed

oil and

flax

seeds

were

widely

used

in folk

medicine.

The

production

of linseed oil

may

have started

thousands

of

years

ago

in

central

Anatolia. Both

plants

are nativeto

Anatolia,

and

flax

seeds have been

found

at

several Neolithic

sites. The

earliesthistorical

documents

concerning

linseed

oil mills

('bezirhane')

are Ottoman

tax recordsfrom

1500-1. Until the

1970s there were still

severaloil mills

in the

Aksaray

area

producing

inseed

oil

during

the winter.

The residue was used as fodder for

draft

animals.

Withthe modemisation

of

agriculture,

nd

the

increased

availability

of

electricity

o

villages,

as well

as the

development

of the road

system

and trans-

portation,

inseed oil

lost its

importance

and the oil

mills

were

abandoned.

The cultivation

and

harvesting

of oil

plants

and the

production

of oil

is

important

o

archaeology

becausethe

identification

of oil

bearing plants,

oil

lamps

and the

interpretation

f various uses

of

grinding

stones are

all

still

at

an

early stage.

Ethno-archaeological

studies

provide importantclues for the interpretationof both

archaeo-botanical

remains and

equipment

found

in

archaeological

excavations.

I

gathered

the

basic information relevant

to the

production

of linseed

oil

during

my ethno-archaeological

studies

in

Aksarayprovince

n

1994-5.

Although

inseed

oil

production stopped

20 to

25

years

ago,

sufficient

*

A

version

of this article

was first

published

n

Turkish

n

TUBA-AR

Turkish

Academyof

Sciences

Journal

of

Archae-

ology) 1 (1998): 113-27, and has been completelyrevised.

informationwas

gathered

rom informants

who were still

availableand hadworked n the mills. In

addition,

I

have

combined this information with the related

archaeo-

logical,

historical and

ethnographic

literature. More

information

is needed from

historians,

archaeologists,

and

ethnographers

o

complete

this

case-study

and to

answerthe

questions

it raises.

Flax/Linum ndEruca

together

with otheroil

plants

such

as

olive, sesame, cotton,

poppy,

sunflower, hazel,

Cephalarial,

safflower2and

hackberry3

were

important

in

traditional Anatolian

cuisine.

In

the

province

of

Aksaray

fig 1),

central

Anatolia,

LinumusitatissimumL.

1

Cephalaria

syriaca (L.)

Schrader:

pelemir'

or 'melemir' is

an

annual

plant

with blue flowers

commonly

seen

as a weed

in

fields in centralAnatolia.

Its

seed contains

21

-6% of fixed

oil,

used

in

the leather

industry

for

rubbing

on animals and as

an

additive

to

linseed

oil

(Baytop

1984:

351;

Oguz

1976).

It

was

commonly

planted

in

central Anatolia until the

1930s

(Morrison

1939),

but

is no

longer

cultivated.

It

was

reported

as

being planted

both

in

Kayseri

and

in

Erzincan

or

its

oily

seeds,

and

the

residue was used as fodder

(Yazicioglu

et al

1978).

2

Safflower:

Carthamus inctorius

L.:

'aspir'

is an

annual

plant

with

yellow

flowers.

It was

planted

in

central and western

Anatolia for its

flowers,

which

were

used as a source of red

dye,

and for

its

oily

seeds.

Its cultivation s now

very

rare

n

central

Anatolia. The seeds contain 28-40% fixed oil.

Baytop

mentions that it was used as

lamp

oil

in

the

dye industry

and in

folk medicine as

a

pain

reliever rubbed on

externally

(1984:

170),

and

suggests

that it was not

used

in

cooking

because the

oil is bitter.

Knowles

reports

that

he

observed safflower oil

production

n

Eskisehir n the

1960s,

and the

villagers reported

that

its

oil is

superior

o

sunflower,

inseed and

poppy

seed oils

when

it

is used

immediately,

but that within a

couple

of months

the oil

develops

undesirable

lavours

(1967: 156).

It was also

used as edible oil

in

Egypt,

and in

both

these cases the residue

was used

as

fodder

(Knowles

1967:

156).

3

Celtis:

'citlembik'

fruits

are

also

used

for oil

(Oguz

1976:

624;

Erciyes

et

al

1989),

but this

is

not

reported

n centralAnatolia.

In

the

aceramic Neolithic settlement of

A?ikli

H6yiik

in

Aksaray,

layers

of desiccated

Celtis fruit stones have been

found

(Esin

et al

1991),

and

they may

have

been used

in

oil

production.

171

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3/16

Anatolian

Studies

2000

Fig

la.

Map of Turkey.

Townsmentioned n the text

Fig

lb.

Mapof

the

studyarea,Aksaray.Villages

with 'bezirhane'

172



4/16

Ertug

('zeyrek')4

and Eruca sativa

(Lam.)

Miller

('izgin'),

were

cultivated ortheir

oily

seeds and for the

production

of

oil.

In

times

of

scarcity,

Sinapis

arvensis

('hardal

otu')

seeds were also

used to

produce

oil. All

threeoils

were

called 'bezir

yagl' (linseed oil)

in

Anatolia. 'Bezr'

is

Arabic for

'seed',

but

the word is used in Anatolia

to

refer

to oil from flax

seeds as well as

to the oil

produced

by

oil

mills from the other two seeds.

Privately

owned

oil

mills

in

Anatolia

were called

'bezirhane'.

Although

linseed oil has

many

industrial

uses5,

t

was

produced

in

central

Anatolia for

cooking,

for

lamp

oil

and to

grease

the axles

of wooden-wheeled

carts,

as

well

as to lubricate

he skins of

water-buffaloes. The

residual

oil cakes were used for animal

fodder,

especially

for draft

animals. Linum and Eruca

seeds were both

used to

produce'beziryagi',

but the oil

produced

from flax was

much

preferred

or

cooking.

Both

linseed oil and flax

seeds were

widely

used

in

folk medicine to relieve

pain,

heal wounds and as an

expectorant

Baytop

1984;

Ertug-

Yara?

1997;

Fujita

et al

1995).

In

centralAnatolia

the

production

of

'beziryagi'

may

have startedseveral thousand

yearsago.

Both

plants

are

native to

Anatolia,

and

flax

seeds have been

found

in

several Neolithic sites. Flax

was used as a

fibre

in

prehistoric

imes

throughoutEurope

and the

Middle East

(Barber

1991;

1994).

When

identifying

carbonised

eeds

from

several

excavations,

t

is difficult to tell

whether he

flax was

planted

for its fibre or for its

oil;

and

if

for oil

whether

for food

or

for

lamp

oil. To test these

various

possibilities,

we must know how the

seeds

or

the fibres

were

processed,

and what kind of tools were

used.

Ethnographic

observations related

to the

cultivation,

harvesting

and

processing

of

several

oil-bearing plants

may

contribute o a better

understanding

f their uses

in

the

past.

Because of

rapid

modernisation

n

Anatolia

after the

1950s,

opportunities

or

obtaining

this kind of

informationare

becomingvery

rare.

A

brief

background

to the research

During my

ethno-archaeological

ieldwork in

Aksaray

from

1994 to

1995

(Ertug-Yara?

1997),

I

observed

variousmills called 'bezirhane'and 'bulgurhane'. The

latter are also called 'dink' or 'seten'

in

various

parts

of

4

'Zeyrek'

r

'zegrek'

s a name

ommonly

sedfor

flax

seeds

throughout

entralAnatolia

TDK:

4363;

Baytop1994).

In

general,

lax s knownas 'keten'.

5

Linseed il is a

drying

il,

and ormsa hard

ilm

on

exposure

to the air

(Renfrew

985).

For his reason t is

widely

used

n

the

industrial

roduction

f various

dyes,

varnishes,

inoleum

and

nks.

Poppy

andsafflower ils arealso

drying

ils but

n

Anatolia

all three oils are used for

cooking.

Linseed

oil,

in

small quantities, s use for cooking in Iraq(Renfrew 1985).

Anatolia,

and there

areseveral

notes about

these

'bulgur'

(cracked

wheat)

mills

in

the

ethnographic

literature

(Hillman

1984;

Ko?ay

1951;

University

Bern

1971).

I

could

not find

any

information

about

'bezirhane',

although

until

very

recently they

played

an

important

role in local

economies.

My

interest

increased

when I

found the

term

'bezirhane'

in

16th

century

historical

documents.

The

earliest

records

concerning

linseed oil

mills are

in

the 1500-1 Ottoman ax

recordsforKaraman

province

which at that

time

included

Aksaray

and

Konya.

A

linseed oil mill

was countedas

part

of the

financial

assets

of

the

Aksarayreligious

foundations

('Vakif')

(Konyali

1974:

532).

In

the tax

records for the

reigns

of

Sultan

Selim I

(1512-20)

and Kanuni

Sultan

Siileyman

(1520-

66),

oil

mills

were taxed in

various

villages

of

the

Aksaray

district6,

as

well as in the

town of

Aksaray

(Konyali

1974:

645).

In

the 1882

recordof

'Salname' of

the

Konya region,

there were 28

'bezirhane' in the

Aksaray

district

(Konyali

1974:

102).

However there

is

no

indication of

'bezirhane'

in

other centralAnatolian

towns

such as

Konya,

Nigde,

Nev?ehir

and

Kayseri

(Konyali 1964).

I

have

howeverbeen

told

that

until

the

1930s a

'bezirhane'was

operating

at

Karapinar

n

Konya

province (ca.

80km

east

of

Konya)7.

There is also a

village

named 'Bezirhane'

on the

Aksaray-Ankara

oad,

30km from

Ankara,

which

probably

took its

name from

an

existing

oil mill.

Further o the

east,

a

guild

of 'bezirci'

(linseed

oil

producers

or

traders)

n

the town

of Sivas is

recorded n

the tax records of the

reign

of MahmudII

(1808-38).

There were

three 'bezirci'

shops,

one owned

by

Muslims

and two

by

non-Muslims.

According

to

Evliya Celebi's

travel

records from the

1650s,

a

section of

Sivas was

6

In towns

such as

Demirci,

Agacli

(new

name:

Giilagac),

Eskinos

new

name:

Uzunkaya)

nd hlarahere

areno

records

of linseed

oil mills

n

the

timesof Sultan

elim

(1512-20)

and

KanuniSultan

Suleyman1520-66). However,

here s a tax

record for the

village

of

K6stiik/G6stuk

new

name:

Dogantarla)

n

the

Selim

I

period

hat

25

akge',

and 12

akge'

inthe Kanuni eriod,were aken rom he'bezirhane' s a tax.

Taxesof '25 ak9e'

and 50

akge'

were aken

romSelimeand

Kizilkaya

villages

after the Kanuni

period

(Ba?bakanlik

Ottoman

Archives,

stanbul,

Books of 'Tahrir

Defterleri' os

40 and

55,

read

by

Professor

ejat

G6yiinq

ndProfessor

ngin

Akarli).

7

Naim

Aydinbelgeb.

1931)

n

Karapinar

old

me

in

1997 hat

they

called hesemills

'dayhane',

nd hat

hey

used o

play

on

the

mill

stones s children.Themill

was

working

n

his

father's

time. Both flax and

Eruca were

commonly

cultivated n

Karapinar

ntilthe

1970s,

and sold to

Aksaray.

Aydinbelge

remembersrom his

childhood hat his mother

made small

lamps

for linseed oil out

of

mud,

and that these

were used for

night time illumination.

173



5/16

AnatolianStudies 2000

called

'bezirci tarlasl'

(field

of

'bezirci'),

which was

also

reported

n the

1870s

(Demirel 1998).

Some historical

documentsalso indicate that

linseed

oil

production

was

quite

common

in

and around

stanbul

in the

18th

century.

In a

documentdated

1726,

regula-

tionswere

given

for the oil

producers

n

Galata,

Uskiidar

and

Eyiip,

and

they

were warned to

keep

the

scales and

storagepotsof linseed oil apart rom those used forother

oils

(Kal'a

1998a:

183).

A

courtcase in

1760,

indicates

thatthere were

at least two 'bezirhane' n

Kartal,

owned

by

non-Muslims

Kal'a

1997a:

267).

Anothercourt

case

indicates that in 1750

there were at

least three

'bezirhane' n

Silivri,

a

districtof

Istanbul

Kal'a

1997b:

58;

1998b:

25).

Two

'bezirhane'

were also

mentioned

n

other

court

cases,

one in 1752 in

Tepeviranvillage

of

Yoros area

(AnadoluFeneri),

and

the

other

in

1775 in

?eyhli

village

of ile

(Kal'a

1998c:

18,

51).

Although

the

production

of

linseed oil

may

not have

been limited to theAksaraydistrict t was one of the most

important

production

centres

in

Anatolia.

The oil

was

produced

there for at

least several

hundred

years

and

possibly

several thousand.

Production

began

to decrease

in

the late 1970s

and

completely

stopped

in

the late

1980s.

There are

some

scattered statistics

for the

production

of

flax,

both for

seeds and

fibre,

n

other

areas

of

Turkey,

but

I

have not

found

any

statistics for the

production

of

linseed oil.

A

brief

history

of

flax

Flax

originated

n

Anatolia and the Balkans.

There

are

38

species

of

Linum,

belonging

to the

Linaceae

family,

in

Turkey,

of which

some are

perennial,

some

are

annual,

and

several

are endemic to

Turkey

(Davis

1967:

425).

Linum

bienne Mill. is

the wild

progenitor

of the

crop

Linum

usitatissimum

figs

2,

3),

and

grows

extensively

in

central

Anatolia,

as

well

as

other

parts

of

Turkey

(Herbarium

pecimen

from

Aksaray

no FEY

387;

fig

4).

Archaeological

records ndicatethat

flax is

one of the

most

ancient

crop-plant

pecies,

and has

been cultivated

since

the seventh

millennium

BC

(van

Zeist 1985:

37).

The

earliest

evidence

yet

found is

from

Ramad

in

western

Syria

dating

to

7190-6700 BC

(van Zeist,

de

Roller

1994).

Carbonised flax

seeds from

the

early

Neolithic

levels of

(ay6nii

in

southeast

Turkey,

have

been dated to

8250-7750

BC,

but are

considered to be

wild.

It

has

been

suggested

that

these

wild flax

seeds

may

have

been used in

oil

production (Stewart

1976),

although

textiles

made

from

flax were

found

both in

(Cay6nii

nd

in

(Catalh6yiik8.

8

Cloth esiduewas found

on the

handle

f

a bone

ool froma

layer dated to ten thousand

years ago

in

Cay6nfi,

Diyarbakir

The

palaeo-ethnobotanist

Helbaek,

who worked on

the

history

of flax

cultivation,

pointed

out the

large

sizes

of seeds found in

the

settlements of

Arpachiyah

n

Iraq

and Brak in

Syria,

dated

to

5000 BC.

These,

he

said,

might

indicate the use

of

irrigation 1970:

211-13).

Sumerianand

Akkadian

exts mention an 'oil

plant',

etymologically

related o

'sesame',

long

beforeevidence

of sesame itself occurs in the archaeological record

(Miller 1991).

The

Sumerianword

SE-GIS-i,

relatedto

the

Akkadian

SAMMASSAMMU,

andthe Hurrian

word

sumisumi,

has

been used in

Hittitetexts as

(GlS)sam

m)

am

(m)

a

(Ertem

1987).

According

o

Helbaek,

his

word

was

probably

originally applied

to

flax,

and

only

later

designated

sesame.

Archaeo-botanical

vidence seems

to confirm

this

hypothesis,

because

the

earliest

sesamein

the

Near East

appears

probably

in the third

millenium

BC9.

Bedigian (1985: 164)

suggests

that the

Sumerian

word SE-GIS-i

might

have

applied

initially

to

whatever

cropwas used for oil, andlater,when sesame was intro-

duced,

the

name becameaffiliatedwith

that

plant.

The Hittite words

for

oil,

fat, lard,

tallow or

grease

are

derived from

Sumerian,

but

as used

by

the

Hittites,

philologists

cannot

distinguish

the referents o oil

types.

The

Hittites used several

kinds

of

oil: in

the

preparation

of

food,

as fuel in

lamps

or

torches,

for

barter,

o anoint

body

and

hair,

as

offerings

to

the

gods,

to

waterproof

baskets and

caulk

boats,

and to rub down

their horses

(Hoffner

1995:

112).

Singer

(1987:

185)

adds

that oil

was

also used in

the

funerary

ites of

the Hittite

imperial

family.

The bones

remaining

after the

cremation

of the

deceasedwere

anointed,

then

wrapped

nto linen

cloths

and

placed

into the

stone-houses.

Although

it was

known that

they

used olive

oil,

and oil

extracted

from

nuts,

the use of

sesame and/or flax as a

source

of oil

is

still

debated

among

philologists (Hoffner

1995:

108-9).

Guiterbock

1968)

does not

mention flax

among

the oil

plants

in

Hittite

Anatolia,

but

further

archaeo-botanical

evidence

may help

to

clarify

this

situation.

In

the

Greco-Roman

world,

as well as in

ancient

Mesopotamia

and

Egypt,

the flax

plant

was

cultivated

mostly

for its

fibre which was

used to

produce

inen and

its

variousderivative

products,

uch as

fish

netsand

lamp

Vilayet.

Analysis

showed

that t

was flax

(The

NewYork

Times,

13.7.1993).

There are cloth

residues

dated to seven

thousand

years

ago

from

Catalh6yiik,Konya

(Ryder

1965;

Barber 1991:

10-11).

9

Until

recently

the

earliest sesame finds in

the Near

East were

from the

seventh

century

BC

(Renfrew 1985;

Miller

1991).

However,

about

15

sesame and a

few flax

seeds were

found in

ca.

2500-2100 BC

levels of the

Abu-Salabikh

excavations in

Iraq

(Charles

1993).

There

is

still

some doubt

concerning

his

identificationof sesameseeds

(pers

commCharles

May 1999).

174



6/16

Ertug

Fig

2. Linum usitatissimum

(Flax/zeyrek) lowers

and

seed

pods

(all

photographs

taken

by

the

author)

Fig

3.

Pressed

Linum

usitatissimum Flax/zeyrek)

I

I

i

J

Fig 4. Pressedsample of Linumbienne Fig 5. Eruca sativa (Izgin) n lower, theseedpodsare not

ripened

175



7/16

Anatolian Studies

2000

wicks.

Flax seed was

consumed,

but

linseed oil

does not

seem

to have been

important.

In ancient

Egypt,

linseed

oil was used

only

for

lighting,

although today

it

is a

seasoning

for

vicia

faba

beans

(Renfrew 1985).

According

to

Pliny,

the

peasants

of north

Italy

often ate

a

porridge

made

of

ground

linseed,

and the

Spartan

warriorsate

ground

inseed mixedwith

honey during

he

Peloponnesian War. Galen adds that linseed was

consumedwith

fish

sauce,

and

spread

on

bread,

but was

hard to

digest

and

provided

little nourishment

Gallant

1985).

Due

to

the

factthatflax seed is

usually

roasted or

human

consumption,

hereis

a

greaterprobability

hat

it

will be carbonised

and found

in

an

archaeological

context. Indeed

flax

seed can be

toxic

if

it is not roasted

or boiled

in

water.

Sesame

seeds,

on

the other

hand,

need

only

to be soaked

in

water

before

grinding

or

boiling

(Gallant

1985:

155;

Renfrew

1985).

Cultivation of flax

Flax

grown

for

linseed and

flax

grown

for fibre are the

same

species,

but

the

plant

cultivated for

linseed is

shorter

(25-30cm),

with more branches

and more seeds.

When

grown

for fibre

it

was

planted

in

winter

and the

seed

sown

very densely,

so

that the stands

had

few

branchesand

more individual

stocks.

Flax for linen

was

commonlyplanted

along

the

Black Sea

coast,

especially

around

Kandira,

Bartin,

Eregli,

Ayancik

and

Sinop,

less

frequently

in the

Marmara

region

(Kocaeli,

Sakarya,

Balikesir)

and

rarely

n the coastal

areas of

the Mediter-

ranean (Icel, Hatay, Antalya) (TTO; Ziraat Vekaleti

1937).

Fibre

production

of

flax has decreased

rapidly

n

the

last few

decades and

information on

spinning,

weaving

and

rope making

is not sufficient

for

ethno-

archaeological

comparisons.

Flax for

seed was also

planted

n

central

Anatolia

and

in the

zone

from

Marmara o inner Anatolia

(Eski?ehir,

Kiitahya,

UJak,

Afyon,

Amasya),

as

well as

in south-

eastern

Anatolia

(Gaziantep,

Urfa,

Mara?,

Malatya,

Adiyaman)

(TTO).

Flax thrives

in

moderate,

cool

temperatures.

Although

it

will

produce

in rainfall

regimes

of 300-

50mm

peryear,

the best

yields

are

in

areas

receiving

450-

750mm

(Renfrew

1985;

Bedigian

1985).

In central

Anatolia,

flax was

planted

on river banks.

In the western

part

of

Aksarayprovince

(over

1

000m in

altitude),

t

was

sown

at the

end

of

March or

in

April10,

nd

the

bluish-

purple

flowers

(fig

2)

bloomed

in June. The roundish

10

Bedigian1985)says

hat

se-gis-i'

could

be

sesame

because

it

is

planted

n the

spring

whileall otheroil

plants

are winter

crops.

However,

flax

and Eruca

are also

planted

n the

spring

in

central

Anatolia. Her observation

may

be true

for other

areas,

but

it also shows thatwe must be careful n

making

nter-

pretations

based

on

one

area.

seed

pods

(called 'kelle')

were

about

8-10

mm

in

diameterand

ripened

n

July.

Each

pod

containedabout

ten seeds

3-5mm

long

and

2-3mm wide

(fig

3),

the

brownish,

shiny

seeds

weighed

about

3-9mg.

Flax seeds

contain

approximately

32-4% oil and 20-5%

protein

(Renfrew1985).

In the

Aksaray

area,

I

was told that

harvesting

was

done with sickles. As the seedpodshave a mucilaginous

coating

and

stick

together,only

the

tops

of

the

plants

with the

pods

were

harvested. The harvested

pods

were

piled up,

and at the end of the harvest

carriedto the

threshing

floor where

they

were

processed

with

a

threshing

sledge ('diiven')

and

then

sieved11.

Cultivation of Eruca

('izgm')

as

an

oil

plant

The

genus

Eruca

belongs

to the

Brassicaceae

(=Cruciferae) family.

Of

the

14

species,

five are

commonly

found in the Mediterranean

rea.

Only

Eruca

sativa is planted,and aboutsevencultivarsareknown12. t

has

also been cultivated

as

an

oil

plant

n

Iran,

Afghanistan

and

Indiasince

antiquity

Schuster

1992:

49).

It

has been

known

as

a

medicinal

plant

in

Europe

since

the Greco-

Roman

era,

but was not

usually

sown

there as

an

oil

plant 3.

Zhukovsky,

the Russian botanist who

made

extensive

plant

collections

and

detailed

observationson

farming echniques

n Anatolia

n

1925-7,

pointed

out that

E.sativawas

commonly

sown

together

with flax for

the

production

f

oil

(Zhukovsky

1951:

523).

'This

s true f flax s cultivatedor ts

oily

seeds,

when he

op

parts

areharvested

y

sickle. If

it

is cultivated

or

fibre,

hen

there

s

no

need o wait

until

he seeds

ripen,

nd t is

uprooted

while he

plant

s still

green.

Some

sources

ndicatehat t can

be used

for bothafter

he seedshave

ripened,

when t is also

uprootedby

hand

(TTO:

23).

Renfrew

says

that

flax

is

harvested

ith

sickles

n

Iraq

and

uprooted

n

Egypt,

but

does

not

specify

which

use

was intended

1985:63).

McCorriston

(1997:522)

further

xplains

he

uprooting

rocess

or

flax,

an

arduous

ask

n

ancient

Mesopotamia.

12

Baytop

(1948;

1984;

1994)

calls

'lzgm'

Eruca

cappadocica

Reut. or

E.

sativa var.

cappadocia

and

says

'Roka is

Eruca

sativa Miller'. In the Flora of Turkey Davis 1965: 1:1:269)

both

names are

reported

as the

synonyms

of E.

sativa.

While

rocket

('roka')

is

known

as

a

salad

plant,

cultivated

commonly

and sold

in

markets,

nother ultivar

'lzgm'),

planted

or

its

oily

seeds

in

central

Anatolia,

has bitter leaves and was not

eaten

by

the local

people.

A

recent

study

on the

biodiversity

of

E.sativa

in Israel

(Yaniv

et al

1998)

indicates

a

significant

biodiversity

n

the

species

related

o

its

geographic

origin.

This

biodiversity

within

the variouscultivars

of E.sativa

may

be one

of the

factors

in

the variation

n the taste of the

green foliage

when

planted

n different

geographicregions.

13

Eruca sativa cultivation

as an

oil

plant

started

n

Germany

after

the 1936 Hindu Kush

expedition,

but

was

not

very

efficient

and

so was

not

planted

n

large

areas.

In the last few

decades,

a new

use for

it

as

an

engine

oil

has increased

nterest

(Schuster

1992:

49-50).

176



8/16

Ertug

Fig

6.

Dry

samples

of

Linum

(bottom)

and Eruca

sativa

E. sativa

is an annual

plant,

about

20-60cm tall with

yellow

flowers

(fig

5).

Its

seeds are much

smaller than

flax

and form

pods (called

'kavuz')

which are

2-2.5cm

long

and 3-5mm

wide.

In

the

Aksaray

area Eruca

was

planted

more

commonly

and

more

consistently

than flax.

Althoughflax cultivation ended in the 1970s, I found a

few

fields of Eruca

in

the

Aksaray

area

n

1995,

whereit

was still

grown

for

fodder.

It

was

planted

at the same

time

as

flax,

in

the

spring,

but

because

it

was more

drought-resistant,

t

could be

planted

n

drier

fields. The

seeds of both are

quite

small

(fig 6)

and for

sowing

they

were

mixed

with

sand,

and then broadcast

by

hand. The

amount

of seed for

one 'donuim'

1600m2)

is about one

handful

(ca.

150-200gr),

mixed with a

sieve

('kalbur')

full of sand

(about

15-20kg).

Both flax

and Eruca were

sownbroadcastn late March

or

in

April

and harvested

n

July. Since the seed pods spreadalong the branches,

harvesting

of Eruca

was done

by

uprooting.

In

July

or

August

it

was

threshed,

winnowed and stored until

linseed oil

production

began

in

winter.

I

was

told

that

most farmers

previously planted

3-5

'donuiim' f one

or

the

other of these

crops.

Linseed oil

('beziryali')

use

in

cooking

In

the

Aksaray

area

inseed oil

-

especially

flax

seed oil

-

was used

to

fry

certain

foods. Until the 1970s it was

used

to

fry

two

types

of

dough, locally

called 'civirtma/

civirtmaq'

or

'katmer'. 'Civirtma'

was

prepared

with

leavened wheat

dough

mixed with

water and the

fairly

liquid

mixturewas

spooned

nto

very

hot

linseed oil. The

fried

balls turned red and were eaten warm.

'Katmer'

dough

was made with

wheat

flour, milk,

yoghurt,

eggs

and

salt. The balls were

shaped by

hand,

and

fried

in

linseed oil.

Sherbetwas

put

on

the

warm

rolls. It

was

also

used to

fry

onions and

potatoes.

Due to

its

strong

odour,

linseed oil

was not

usually

used to cook

vegetables

or

soups.

I

have heard from

several

informants hat in

the town of

Aksaray

and its

villages

of

Ihlara,Demirci,

Selime and

Kizilkaya, 'beziryagi'

was

used to fry 'civirtma'.

I

had

thought

that

the use of

linseed oil

in

cooking

was

specific

to the

Aksaray

area

because linseed oil was

the main

vegetable

oil

produced

o the exclusion of other

oils

such as olive and

sesame. On a recent

trip

to the

Black Sea

coast'4

however,

I was

informed that

linseed

oil was used in

the same

way

in

the

northern

egions

of

Kastamonu

province.

Until 30 or 40

years

ago

the

villagers

of

Azdavay used linseed oil especially to fry

'cizleme',

so

much so that the

neighbouring

villagers

called them

'bezirli',

referring

o the distinctive odour of

linseed oil.

The

Azdavay villagers

did not

produce

linseed oil

themselves,

but

bought

it

in the

Agli

market.

In

another area of

Kastamonu,

n

Kayikqc

village,

near

the town of

S6giitpinar,

was told that linseed oil

was

used

to

fry

a

different kind of

leavened

dough,

'gozleme'. They

bought

linseed

oil

only

to use for

cooking,

eitherfrom the

Inebolu

or

$enpazar

marketson

the

Black Sea coast or

fromIstanbul.

Linseed oil for lamps

Linseed

oil,

especially

that

made of

Eruca,

was used as

lamp

oil in

small

home-made ceramic

lamps,

called

'bezir

clrasl'

(fig 7).

One side of these

lamps

was

pressedby

hand and the

wick of hand

spun

cotton was

added to this

tip

(called

'liiliik' in

the local

dialect).

In

the

Cappadocia

area,

several caves

and carved rooms

have small

niches

dug

out of

the

walls,

and the

ceilings

are covered with

a thick

layer

of

soot from the use

of

linseed oil

lamps.

Small

lamps

made of

tin

and/or

pottery

called 'bezirlik'

(linseed

oil

lamp)

are also

reported or easternAnatolia(Kosay 1977: 11).

Use of linseed

oil

in animal

husbandry

Linseed

oil

was

important

to the health of water-

buffaloes. It was

rubbed nto their hides to

protect

them

from

insects and from

cracked skin

during

cold winters.

In

the

autumn,

everyone

appliedslightly

heated linseed

oil with

a

piece

of cloth to the whole

body

of

the animal.

When

the

villagers

wanted

to

provoke

their water-

buffaloes

to wrestle

(called

'camiz

kaki?tirma'),

they

mixed red

pepper

in a

small

ball

of

dough,

kneaded

it

with

linseed

oil,

and

fed them this ball

(called

'bezir

topu')15.

14

The

nformationbout

Azdavay

was

given

by

HabibeEker

(b. 1958)

nMancilik

illage,

about 0kmnorth f

Kastamonu.

The

information bout

Kaylk4lvillage

was

given by

Elife

Kayikqi

b. 1922)

n

August

1998.

15

This information as

given by

Gazi

Guiqliier

n Ihlara n

August

1998. He

says

that

water-buffalo

restling

was

very

famous

n

Ihlara nd hat t

continued ntil20-5

years

ago.

A

saying

about

eating

'bezir

topu'

is still used

among

the elders

for people who show badtemper.

177



9/16

Anatolian Studies

2000

>:..::.:d.?Si.........

'''

.........

Fig

:

7a. Tw'

:

,

.a la*m

r

'd

:

ofptty

i'

vlg

Aksara

Fig

7a.

Two linseed oil

lamps

made

of

pottery, Kzzllkaya

village, Aksaray

Fig

8a.

Oil

container

for

ox-carts made

of

water-buffalo

horn

178

0

5cm

I

I I

I I I

Fig

7b.

Oil

lamp

(by Ay,e

Ozkan)

Fig

8b. Oil container

(by Ayse

Ozkan)



10/16

Ertug

Fig

9. Atalar

Bezirhanesi

rom

the

outside.

The arched

entrance

leads

to the

'harman daml'

section

of

the

linseed

oil mill. The

building

on the

left

would

have been

used as

the

guest

house

of

the

mill

It was also used

in

Aksaray

to oil

the axles of

wooden-wheeled

carts

('kagni')

in order

to reduce

friction. Linseedoil was mixed with

groundgreensoap,

put

into containers

made of buffalo

horn

(fig

8),

and

hung

on

the back

of the cart

(Ertug-Yara?

997:

346).

This

practice

may go

back

to the Hittites

in Anatolia.

The cakes

('karayem')

formed

from the residue

of

linseed

oil

production

were used

as

fodder,

especially

for

draftanimalssuch as oxen

and buffalo'6.

This

was a

very

important

nd-product

f the

process

because

theresidue

contains 33-43%

protein

and

fat. It was as valuable

as

wheat.

Linseedoil

production

was

timed in accordance

with its use

as fodder.

While the harvest

of the

plants

took place in July and August, processingwas delayed

until

January

or

February

because

the cakes

were not

storable and had to be

fed to the

animals as soon

as

possible.

During

the

summer,

especially

after

the

harvest,

there was

always

enough

fodder

(e.g.

straw,

grasses)

to nourish the

animals.

However,

when the

tilling

fields

for

spring

crops began

in

February-March,

the

villagers

needed

strong

fodder

to enable

their draft

animals

to do the

heavy ploughing.

This is

a

good

example

of interconnections

among

several

aspects

of

the older

rural

economy.

With the introduction

of

electricity, new agricultural machinery and cheaper

margarine

ils,

linseed oil

production

ost

its

importance.

As

a

result,

traditional

nimal

husbandry

nd

agricultural

practices,

as well as local medicinal

usage, changed.

16

According

o the iterature

Renfrew

985:

64;

Charles

985:

52)

if linseed oil is

produced

by

'cold

pressing',

it contains

cyanogenetic

glucoside,

resulting

n

the

production

of

hydrogen

cyanide (prussic

acid)

and cannot be

given

to

animals.

In

Anatolia seeds are either

pre-processed

by

roasting

or

boiling

and then

cold

pressed,

the cakes were

fed to animals. It is

possible

thatthis

pre-heating

detoxified

the chemical

contentof

the seeds.

A case

study

of

an oil mill:

Atalar

Bezirhanesi, Demirci/Aksaray

Among

the

five linseed

oil mills

in the town of

Demirci,

the best

preserved

s

Atalar17,

amed after

its owner.

It

produced

oil until 1978

and

the whole

process

was

described

to

me

by

its

owner and

two

previous

workers.

The

mill,

completed

n

1936,

is

partly

carved

out of

tufa,

and partly constructed from stone a construction

technique

typical throughout

Cappadocia.

The

mill-

stone

and the wooden

parts

were

installed

in 1938 and

it

began

to

produce

oil the

same

year,

confirmed

by

an

inscription

on its

wall. The

adjacent

building

also

belongs

to

the same

family

and

was used as

the

mill's

guest-house.

The

guest-house

inscription

s dated

1912

(see

fig

9).

This oil-mill

has two sections

(fig

10):

the first

contains the

large

mill-stone

('harman

a?l')

from

which

it takes its

name 'harman

daml'

(fig

11);

the

second

section

contains

the

pressing

beams

('kiri,')

and

the

vertical wooden screw

('ig'),

and is called the 'kirin

daml'

(fig

12).

In the first

section,

a

seed-roasting

oven,

a

cooling

section

and a sieve

are situated

on the

left of the

entrance.

In

the centre

is the

big

mill-stone,

about

2m in

diameter

and about

50cm

high.

The vertical

upper

stone is

about

Im in

diameter,

30cm

thick and

is carved

out of

local

tufa. It rests on

the concave

surface

of the

lower

horizontal

mill stone.

A wooden

centre

post

passes

through

a hole

in the horizontal

stone and

is

firmly

embedded

in a

ceiling

beam.

A horizontal

axle beam

attaches he upperstone to the centralpost andan ox or

buffalo

with a draw

harness

s hitched

to the end

of

this

beam

to

turnthe

upper

stone.

The

animal walks

around

the

mill-stone,

turning

he

upper

stonewhich crushes

the

seeds

as

a

worker

brushes

them towards

it. This

mill-

stone is

basically

similar to

bulgur-mill

stones

in

Anatolia and to

oil mills

in Iran

(Wullf

1966:

297).

17

On

my

lastvisit

o the

AtalarBezirhanesi

n

August

998,

the

internalwooden

structures

had all been

removed,

probably

by

the owner. On

my previous

visit

in 1997 these wooden

struc-

tures had still been intact which is a good indicationof how

rapidly

the

materialevidence

of the

past

can

disappear.

There

are the remains

of two more 'bezirhane'

in Demirci.

Haci

Hasanlar,

ust

a few

houses

away

from

Atalarand

(;angallar

n

the

Kalealti district

of Demirci.

In Ihlarathe

largest

and best

maintained bezirhane

is 'Tekke

6nii Bezirhanesi'.

It

was

restored

n 1990

by

the local

municipality

but

is not

yet

open

to

the

public.

It is

a multi-room

subterranean

actory dug

out

of

the tufa

in

the usual

Cappadocian

ashion.

Dr Peter Kuniholm

from Cornell

University

kindly

took

a

sample

(BEZ 1)

from

one of

its

large

vertical tree-trunks

(estimated length

15m,

diameter

ca.

35cm).

The

sample

gives

a date of

1842.

The

log

was identified

s

Pinus

sylvestris

y

Dr

Werner

choch

of

the

Laborfir

Quartaeme

Hoelzer

(pers

comm

from

Dr

Kuniholm

1998).

179



11/16

Anatolian Studies

2000

* ..*

ii.

GIR1S

ENTRANCE

B-B

KESlTI/SECTION

B

A

-A-

..

A-A

KESITI

SECTION

0 1

5M

Fig

10.

Plan

and the section

of

the Atalar

Bezirhanesi,

Demirci,

Aksaray

June

1995

(by

the architect

S Bebekoglu

and the restorationspecialist G Duru)

180



12/16

Ertug

The two

sectionsof the 'bezirhane'

areconnected

by

an

opening.

Entering

the second

section,

one sees

four

verticallyplaced

beams,

each about

30-40cm thick and

10-12m

long.

These beams

(possibly

willow)

are

connected

to an

impressive

wooden

screw,

6-7m

high,

thought

o be madeof oak.

This

screw

rests

in a

mortar-

like

stone,

also carved

from local tufa.

A wooden

piece,

called 'agir~ak',holds the screw and connects it to four

beams.

Two beams

pass

to

the

right

of the screw and two

other sets

pass

to the

left,

and while the

screw

turns,

the

'agir,ak'

presses

onto the

beams. The other ends

of the

beams are attached

to the back

wall of the

building,

secured

by

another

piece

of wood called a 'bestirek'.

The oil basketsare

placed

in a

special pit

at the end of

the

four beams.

The screw is

lowered with the

help

of

an

animal,

or

by

several

men,

and the beams

apply pressure

to the

baskets,

causing

oil to flow fromthem.

One turn

of the

animal s about

equal

to one thread

of the screw.

It

needs

four

people

or one ox

to raise the screw but

only

two men to lower

it. While the

ceiling

of the

mill is

constructedon

arches,

the

top

part

of the screw is closed

with

wooden

beams,

preventing

t from

tearing

downthe

arches

if the screw should

fly

from its socket.

In

general,

one master and

three workers are needed

to work

an oil

mill. It has been said that

in the

past

(before

1922)

most of

the masters were Greeks

('Rum')18.

Workershave

a room over the entrance o rest

and eat which can be reached

by

the stairs next to

the

entrance. This

space

has a

fire-place

with a

chimney

and

two windows.

The workers rest on

platforms

covered

with woven mats. Inaddition,behindthemill stone there

is

a

stable

for the

animals water buffalo or

oxen

used

in the oil

mill,

as well

as

other

villagers'

animals

bringing

seeds

to

process.

The

production

of linseed

oil

The

process

of linseed oil

production

was as follows.

The seeds

were first

roasted,

then

ground

on the mill-

stone and

the flour-like

product

was mixed

with

water to

prepare

a

dough.

This

dough

was

packed

into

special

baskets

which were stacked

under

heavy

wooden beams

and pressedby turningthe wooden screw. The baskets

stayed

under

pressure

for about

24

hours,

during

which

time the oil drained

rom them.

18

Someelders

remembered

hat hese masters amefrom he

Greek

villages

of

Cappadocia

or a few months

during

he

winterand

then,

whenthe oil

pressing

eason

was

over,

hey

went

back o their

villages. Only

one record ouldbe found

about his

fact,

saying

hat some Greeks romSinasos

new

name:

Mustafapa?a)

n

Nev?ehir

were

earning

heir

ivelyhood

by pressing

flaxseeds and sesame

oils

(Augustinos

1997:

40).

Fig

11. The oven and the

large

mill-stone 'harman ail'

in the 'harmandaml'

section

of

the

Atalar

Bezirhanesi,

Demirci,

Aksaray

I was told that at the

beginning

of the

process

the

seeds

were

poured

down

from the roof

through

a

chimney into the oven. Then the oven was lit with

branches of

'ketegen'

(Salsola

ruthenica)

and vine

cuttings

(Vitis

vinifera).

For one

day's

roasting

about

15-

20

carts of Salsola

were needed.

About

30kg

of seed19

were roasted

in the oven on a

furiously

burning

fire for

about

half an hour. One

worker

maintained he fire

by

carrying

uel and the masterstirred

he seeds

with an iron

shovel,

called

a

'qek'.

When

all the seeds were

evenly

roasted,

the master

poured

hem into

the

cooling

section,

called

an

'alirt'.

The cooled seeds

were then sieved

(cleaned

from the

ashes)

and carried

o the

mill-stone.

To shorten

the

process

at the

peak

of the

production,

the

mill-crew roasted he seeds

one

day

and

ground

hem

the next. Ten

to

12

roasting

sessions

could be

completed

in one

day

and about

half of the total

190-200kg

of

roastedseeds-

could be

ground

on the

mill

stone

at one

time. This was

called one 'direk'

as

it

was sufficient

to

produce

one

pillar

('direk')

or

vertical stack of

baskets

(two

pillars

went into the

oil

pit

at one

time).

It

took

aboutanhourwith the

help

of draft

animals to

grind

this

quantity

of seed

and then

it was screened

with a

large

fine-meshed

sieve.

If

the

powder

was

not fine

enough,

it

was

ground

again

until

everything

passed through

the

sieve. After the powderwas screenedand put back on

the mill stone about

1-1.5

tins

(20-30kg)

of

water was

added. This

mixture was

ground

on the mill-stone

with

the

help

of

an ox or

a

male buffalo

until it becamea hard

dough.

Several

shifts of

animals and several

hours were

required

before

the

mixture

became

hard

enough,

'not to

19

The

people

use

localmeasurementsalled

kile' and

?inik':

1

kile

is

equal

o

4

?inik

and

about

30-2kg

of seed.

In

every

roasting

ession

heypour

4

~inik

and

n

everygrinding

kile

(=

24

?inik)

f

roasted eedsare

processed.

181



13/16

Anatolian Studies 2000

4

Fig

12. The wooden screw and

the

large

beams

in the

Fig

13.

An

old

master

of

the linseed oil mill

shows the

'kirin

dami' section

of

the bezirhane

baskets made

of

Juncus

inflexus

(kova otu),

Demirci

stick to the stone', as the master said. Then the dough

was

packed

into baskets

by

hand. The

baskets

(fig

13)

were made of

a local

plant,

'kova otu'

(Juncus

inflexus)

and

each of these containers

(50cm

in

diameter)

took

about

8kg

of

dough.

About

35-50kg

of linseed oil were

produced

rom 20 baskets.

When all the baskets

were

filled,

they

were taken to

the second

part

of

the mill

('kiri?

dami'). Twenty

or

24

of them were stacked in two

pillars

in

the

pit

and

heavy

wooden

pieces,

called

'a?lk'

or

'yag

tahtasl',

were

placed

on

top

of

them.

Finally,

the wooden screw was turned

down

to

squeeze

the baskets

under he

weight

of the four

beams.

It

took

about

24

hours of

pressing

to

produce

wo

or three

tins,

a total of

35-50kg

oil.

During

this time the

screw was released

a

few times and

the

baskets

were

repositioned.

The residue

within the baskets was cracked and

groundagain

on the mill-stone. Some

bran,

barley

or

rye

was added before

it was

given

to

the animals.

From 20

baskets about

200kg

of fodder are

produced.

In

1950-60

an oil mill worked about three to four

months

in the winter to

process

about

14

tons of

Linum/Eruca,producingabout3 tons of linseed oil and

about

1.5

tons of

fodder20. When

all

the

mills were

working,

the local seed

yield

was

not sufficient and the

mill

owners

brought

seed from other

places

such as

Konya

and Adana. The

importance

of linseed oil

production

becomes clear

when one realizes

that there

were

18 'bezirhane'

within an area

of

20-5km2.

20

Production

yields

are

given

by

Abdullah

Ata

(b. 1931),

the

owner and masterof

the Atalar inseed oil

mill.

He

said that he

started

o work

in

the

mill

when he

was seven

years

old and for

40

years

-

until 1978

-

he worked

n

the 'bezirhane'.

During

the

1950-60s,

in

addition to

the five linseed oil mills

in

Demirci,

there were one

in

each

of the

following

towns:

Ibrasar

(new

name:

Yaprakhisar),

Selime, Belisirama,

Gelveri

(new

name:

Giizelyurt),Kizilkaya, Agahll,

Ihlara,Ilisu, Camili6ren,

Kitreli, Suvermez,

Helvadere and

in the

Aksaray

Kallnlar/Kireqlik

istrict. Camel caravans

of 20-30 camels

were used to

transport

Eruca

from

Konya,

Nigde

and

Keqikalesi

until

1955. Information n

production

was

provided

by

?ehabettin

Can

(b. 1944)

who worked as a master

at the

Atalarmill from 1963 to 1978.

182



14/16

Ertug

Different

techniques

of

oil

production

Diversity

in the oil

productionprocess

at other towns in

Anatolia,

as well as in some other

countries,

may

be

due

to the use of differentoil

plants

and

also to

differences

n

local

knowledge,

as well

as the local

requirements

and

local technical

capacity.

For

example,

in the Keban

area

of eastern

Anatolia linseed oil

is called

'gingircek

yagl'.

The seeds are roasted, pounded on a stone, boiled in

water and the oil on the

surface

is

collected

(Ansan-

Giinay

1980:

28).

Linseed

oil was

probably

produced

from

flax

but

the

technique

was different because

only

small amountswere

produced

at a time.

Knowles

(1967: 157)

observed safflower

oil

production

n a

workshop

n

Eski?ehir

n the 1960s.

He

reports

hat

the seeds were

first

crushed,

hen heated and

pressed.

In

Egypt

saffloweroil

(Knowles

1967:

161),

and

in Iranlinseed

oil,

as well as

poppy,

cotton, castor,

rape

and mustardoils

were

produced

n the

same

way

as in

central Anatolia, namely roasted, ground and pressed

(Wulff

1966:

296).

The

techniques

and the

tools were

also similar.

In

the Deccan area

of

India

a

different

technique

was

observed.

Carthamus tinctorius

(safflower)

seeds were

placed

in

an earthen

pot,

and

a

perforated

id was sealed to

it with

wet

clay.

Then the

pot

was invertedand

placed

on a smaller

pot

buried

n

soil.

A

fire of dried

dung

was

kept

burning

around

he

upper

pot

overnight.

This

melted

about two thirdsof the

oil

in

the

seeds. It was usedas axle

grease

and as

waterproofing

or

leatherbuckets

(Knowles

1967:

158).

A

similar

process

of extractinghot-drawnoil from safflowerseedswas also

recorded in

Iraq

which

yields

a

thick, black,

viscous

materialused

for

waterproofingCharles

1985:

52).

Results

and

discussion

Flax

and

Eruca

were two

plants

cultivated

especially

for

oil

production

in

central Anatolia.

It

is known that

linseed oil mills were

present

n

this

area for at least

the

last 500

years.

However,

the several centuries

or

perhaps

millennia-

of

dependence

on this oil have now

ended and the local oil

industry

has

disappeared. Hydro-

genated

solid

vegetable

fats and

tasteless,

odorless

vegetable

oils

are

now used

instead of

linseed

oil

in

culinary

culture.

Mechanisation

has

greatly

affected

local

agriculture

and animal

husbandrypractices.

When

electricity

became common

there was no need for oil

lamps.

Nowadays,

no one misses

the

flickeringlight

of

oil

lamps

and

their

soot,

or the odor

that covered the

whole

village

when linseed oil was used for

frying,

or the

wooden-wheeled

oxcarts

greased

with

linseed

oil. Yet

linseed

oil is still needed

in

urban

ndustry.

In

fact,

some

linseed

oil

producers

n

Istanbul old me

that

they import

raw oil or seeds from abroad

as there is so little

in

Anatolia. The cultivationof flax and its

production

n

some of the old

'bezirhane' could

still be

important,

f

not for local

consumption,

then for industrial and

for

touristic

purposes.

Archaeological

evidence

indicates that

flax

fibre has

been

used from

prehistoric

times,

but we do not know

when its use as an oil

plant began.

If

we

want

to

know

which

plants

were used for their

oily

seeds

in

the

distant

pastand how theywereprocessed,we need to knowhow

they

were

cultivated,

harvested and

processed

in

the

recent

past.

In

this

study

I note the various uses of linseed oil as

food,

as fuel and

in

animal

husbandry. Ethnographical

observationsshow

that

oil

production

needs the concen-

trateduse of both human and

animal

power by

means of

quite simple techniques

and tools.

The most

common

technique

seems to be

crushing

the seeds between two

stones after

roasting, mixing

the

powder

with

water,

filling

sacks

or

baskets with the resultant

dough

and then

pressing it. In small-scale production, seeds can be

roasted on a metal

plate

or in an

oven,

they

can be

crushed

n

mortarsor

hand-mills,

put

into

mats,

baskets

or

sacks

and then

pressed

between two

heavy

stones. Oil

can also be

producedby boiling

the seeds in

water.

In all

cases

but one that

of India the seeds are crushed

andlose their

shape,

and,

as the resultant

pulp

is

used

for

animal

fodder

or

fertiliser,

we

may

not find

any

archaeo-

logical

evidence.

Still,

in

the

process

of

roasting

and

grinding,

seeds

may

be lost

in

and around he oven and

the mill stones. To check

archaeological

mortars and

grindingstones for residues or other indicationsof oil

productionmay

be a

promising archaeological

research

topic.

Plant

residue

analysis

on these stone

tools,

as well

as

in

possible

oil

storage pots

and

lamps, may

also

produce

valuable results.

During

this

study

I

have discussed

oil

plants

from

an

archaeological

point

of

view,

but there are

other

facets

of

this

topic.

Some

cultivars

such as

Linumand

Eruca

have

probably

been cultivated

in

Anatolia for thousands of

years,

but

with

recent

rapid changes

cultivation has

ended.

In

relatively

isolated areasof the

country

these

cultural forms

(cultivars)probably changed

genetically,

and

became more

adapted

o

climate,

soil

and

pathogens.

As a

limited numberof

major

cultivarsbecame

dominant

throughout

he

country

almost all these diverse cultural

(genetic?)

forms

may

well have been lost. Older

cultivarsare

related o

a

greatvariety

of

handicrafts,

olk

medicine

and local

culinary practices

which are

rapidly

being forgotten.

These

aspects might

well

be

as

important

as the

efficiency

of

newer

cultivars.

I

think of this

paper

as

a

preliminarycase-study

in a

limited area of Anatolia. More information s

needed

from

historians,

social

anthropologists

and

ethnogra-

phers,

as well as

archaeologists,

o

complete

this

puzzle.

183



15/16

Anatolian

Studies

2000

Acknowledgements

I am

extremely grateful

to

Patty

Jo

Watson,

Josephine

Powell

and Mark

Nesbitt for

their corrections

to the

manuscript

of

this

paper,

and

to Rene

Cappers,

Naomi

Miller,

Mike

Charles,

OmerDemirel

and

~evket

Pamuk

for

providing

valuable

references.

I

am also

grateful

to

Ay~e

Tuncay

for

redrawing

he

maps

of the area.

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Documents

Ertug Linseed Oil and Oil Mills in Central Turkey, 2000