The press is kind of wrong in this picture, isn’t it?
The weight seems to be on the wrong side. If the guy in front of the press cranks up the weight, the lever which is put on the tree stump would move upwards on the side of the press.
The press should actually be on the same side as the weight.
The forked tree in the middle is just to hold up the lever when no olives are in the press. It’s not involved in the actual pressing. The point around which the lever moves is behind the olives.
Thanks very much, that makes sense!
I know next-to-nothing about mechanics or physics or engineering (the Romans would be ashamed of me), but I remember seeing a similar pic as this with a diagram that explained the function of the distribution of the weight on the opposite side. I’ll see if I can dig it up later and post it here if I can (I would now but I’m feeling lazy atm).
Searching for pictures one usually finds constructions like these:
Or these:
In the illustration the weight of the lever only pushes against the wooden construct holding it down on the opposite side.
