In one section was a place where pigeons were raised. This was interesting because it contained holes in the walls where pigeons would stay, but there used to be a big hole in the wall which allowed the pigeons to go out and get food. This meant there were no costs to operate this business. Pigeons and their eggs were easy to trade making it a very secure business to go into. Soon, the wall of the cave was ordered to be closed, allowing only a small window. This meant the pigeons couldn’t get out to get food, many people left the pigeon raising business. We were all quite surprised to learn about this particular part of business.
Another business was that of wine and olive oil making. There were presses found in one section of the cave. This is not surprising as Italy is known for their production of these products. Again, with the ease of trade it was easy to sell these products.
Finally, there was a millstone. These were typically used to grind grain, or to create a paste that would be pressed in the press mentioned above. The millstone we saw was made of basalt. It was very large scale. In order to grind the grain, donkeys would walk around the perimeter rotating the top stone. While it was easy to trade the ground grain, the millstone itself was more interesting to me. Basalt isn’t typically the type of stone found in Orvieto. Though the millstone may have been quarried locally, it is unlikely. Basalt millstones were typically quarried in Sardinia and Sicily, however, some modern scholars believe that it is possible there are more Basalt outcrops that simply haven’t been found yet. Orvieto is known for millstones of a different type of rock called leucitophire. Millstones made out of this type of rock were highly desired due to the fact that Orvieto is further inland making it more difficult to distribute.
Http://www.jstor.org/stable/124449
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