The earliest evidence to date that humans produced olives for food has been found at the underwater Chalolithic site Hishuley Carmel off the coast of Haifa – indicating that inhabitants of the region consumed olives some 6,600 years ago, some 4,000 years earlier than previously believed.

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In an article published in Scientific Reports, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University, the Volcani Center – Agricultural Research Organization and other research institutes in Israel and abroad fits into the timeline of human's use of the olive tree and its products.

The article details the discovery at the sits of "large quantities" of table olives. Researchers explain that the site's proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, likely provided a source of sea water and salt to use in the curing process.

The researchers said that while the ancient olive pit morphometry resembled wild olives, they "could not exclude the possibility" that the olives at the site had been harvested from cultivated trees.

Researchers noted that the patterns of fragmentation and morphometry of the olive pits found at Hishuley Carmel were compared to similar findings from the nearby underwater site Kfar Samir, which has already been identified as the site of large-scale olive oil production.

The article provides some basic background on the cultivation and use of olive products. The extraction of olive oil predated the consumption of the fruit itself, and dates to approximately 7,000 years ago. As yet, there is no date for when olives were first cured for consumption.

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The research vessel Hercules of the RPM Nautical Foundation said Friday they had found 22 amphoras – a two-handled jar with a narrow neck used for wine or oil – 40-60 meters (130-200 feet) deep scattered around the seabed close to rocky shores near the Karaburun Peninsula.

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Archaeologist Mateusz Polakowski said they believe the Corinthian A type amphoras date to between the seventh and the fifth century BCE.

"If the remains of a wreck can be found, it will put this discovery as the earliest ship ever to be sailing along the Albanian coast," said Polakowski.

RPM chairman James Goold considered the site as "one of the most important of all of our discoveries … [and] it will be very important from a historical and archaeological perspective" if confirmed.

Further investigation of the site will be necessary.

Albanian archaeologist Neritan Ceka said similar wine amphoras of Corinthian and Kerkira origin have been found in Durrës and Apollonia and other inland areas in Albania, something which indicates the intensive trade during the second half of the seventh century BCE along the Albanian coast.

Since 2004, RPM has mapped Albania's offshore seabed for ancient and modern shipwrecks, with ongoing plans to open an underwater museum in western Albania.

"It certainly would be a great starting point for a national program around which to establish a museum and show the pivotal role of Albania in antiquity," said Goold.

Ceka said Albanian authorities are planning a new four-to-five-year project with RPM and the Texas-based not-for-profit Institute of Nautical Archaeology, to explore the possibilities of excavating shipwrecks, a financially expensive and scientifically delicate process.

The research in Albania has so far uncovered 28 wreck sites as well as several amphora mounds and additional finds all the way from southernmost Sarandë and Butrint to Durrës and it is planning to go north of Durrës afterward.

RPM's presence in the last 12 years has been a "huge step" to Albania's science of underwater archaeology, according to Auron Tare, head of UNESCO's Scientific and Technical Committee for World Underwater Heritage.

"If confirmed, this shipwreck can be associated with the foundation of two major cities in Albanian coastline, Dyrrachium (modern Durrës) and Apollonia, both the gates of Via Egnatia, the ancient road to the eastern trade," said Tare.

"We have discovered not only ancient shipwrecks but also a good number of World War I and World War II shipwrecks shedding light to an unknown chapter of our history," said Tare.

Albania is trying to protect and capitalize on its rich underwater heritage, with scant funding for its preservation from the government one of Europe's poorest nations.

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