History of the olive tree

The olive tree has been present in Provence from shortly after 8000 years BC, leaves of fossil olive trees dating from this period have been found in the north of Aix en Provence (the Musée de l’Olivier [Museum of the Olive Tree] has an example), the Greeks then the Romans developed methods of cultivation of this tree as well as methods of preparation and of extraction of olive oil.
In the Nyonsais the oldest vestige of the olive tree culture is an oil millstone found in the excavations of a Roman villa dating from the beginning of the 1st century. For two millennia this tree has known phases of development and of regression due mainly to especially destructive frosts. Amongst the most significant were the years 1709 1766 1789 1890. These strong frosts destroyed the trees the most sensitive to the cold. With the passing of the centuries a variety of olive trees resistant to the cold developed. The Tench became the unique variety of olive tree in the Baronnies.
In the XVIIth century the olive tree occupied a dominant place in the local cultures before the cereals. Only a few acres of land were dedicated to the grapevine.
In contrast to the olive oil, its production was only a minor part of the commerce.
The Nyonsais and Baronies orchards disappeared due to the major frosts. From about 1 million trees at the start of the XXth century to 500,000 trees in 1929 and then 250,000 trees in 1956 and to 220,000 trees in 1985.
All the areas freed by the olive tree have been replaced by vineyards and fruit trees. The successive phenomena of frosts linked to the development of the seed oils and the import from countries of the Maghreb and from southern Europe resulted in a very significant reduction in the olive tree orchards.
Today the heart of the production zone which represents 60% of the orchards is concentrated in seven municipalities : Nyons, Venterol, Buis les Baronnies, Mirabel aux Baronnies, la Roche sur le Buis and Piégon.
At the moment 42% of the olive trees are situated in a so-called ‘zone of montage’ with all the constraints linked to the slope and to the cutting of the slopes by large ravines. This topology of orchards on hills has made the development of terraces essential to avoid the waste of the small arable parcel of land and in the fight against erosion. This orchard is made up of islets in the majority of the zones concerned of an average area of close to half a hectare and consisting of around 55 trees. This partitioning explains why 75% of the operators of our zone possess some olive trees whereas 61% of the agriculturists possess the grapevine and 60% fruit trees. The olive tree incorporates itself well in the trilogy of the perennial cultures and although its place has been seriously reduced, it participates in the agricultural economy of the region. The receding of the olive groves in favor of the grapevine has been accentuated by the AOC classification of the Cotes du Rhône of the Vinsobres region (decree of the 19/11/1937) and the St Maurice region (in 1949) but since obtaining the AOC for the olive tree orchards, the plantations have started again.

Pont Roman NYONS