Ancient technology and computer aided design: olive oil production in southern Spain

Until the twentieth century, the two most widely used technologies for extracting oil from olives were the tower press and the beam press. Although many examples still exist, this paper is the first to discuss either press from the point of view of engineering. Working from sketches, photographs and measurements obtained from exhibits in the Museo de la Cultura del Aceite (Museum of Oil History) in Hacienda ‘La Laguna’, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain, the presses have been modelled using computer aided design techniques. Computer animation has also been employed to establish how the presses worked.