The production of perfumes in antiquity

Today was the last full day we spent in Fontecchio, we traveled and saw two marvelous churches as well as hiked up to an ancient castle.  The article Jared an I presented on was titled The Production of Perfumes in Antiquity.  I discussed many different aspects of how perfumes were made and what they were used for in ancient times.

The article began by explaining how perfumes have been used for centuries, they began during the Geometric and Orientilizing periods, when they were solely produced in the Orient, Egypt, and eastern Greece.  It wasn't until the 7th century B.C. that widespread trade began opening up the idea of perfume to all.  In Italy there was a large difference between common peoples perfume and perfume of the aristocracy, usually we would be able to tell the difference between them because the more expensive perfumes would have much rarer ingredients such as rose petals, almonds, and in general items that did not originate in that area, whereas most common peoples perfumes would just be a base, usually olive oil.

Most perfume shops in Italy were based in the center of towns this includes cities like Delos, Paestum, and Rome.  There were ruins found in Delos that had press beds, these are what they used for pressing the ingredients together, they also found furnaces which we can assume were used to heat the ingredients which is the final stage of perfume creation. 

Overall perfume was very important to the Italian people, it was used for spiritual purposes, medicinal purposes, and beauty purposes.