The Spanish Olive Jar: An Introductory Study

By John M. Goggin

FROM the earliest days of the Colonial period until Republican times, the Spanish New World was supplied with much of its necessities by the mother country. This resulted in the development of a complex export industry centered around the annual fleet sent from either Seville or Cadiz. Furthermore, the monopoly retained by Spain from time to time of certain products, such as olive oil and wine, meant that these would be part of the cargo of every fleet. Examining the meager available data of such shipping, we find references to various types of liquid containers such as wooden casks and leather bags, as well as botijuelas. This last container is the pottery vessel, here called the olive jar, represented by thousands of pottery sherds and occasional whole vessels wherever the Spanish stopped.

With a little practice the archeologist can readily recognize sherds of this distinctive pottery. Moreover, as a result of a research program carried out for the last ten years in the Caribbean area, it is possible to demonstrate changes in the styles of these vessels, which make them useful as chronological markers for the archeologist and historian. The present study represents an initial contribution to the study of the olive jar, outlining major styles and indicating their time range. Although it does not completely define all minor details of this ware, some of these will be brought out in more intensive later studies of individual archeological sites.

This study is based on field and museum research centered in the Caribbean and extending from Venezuela to Florida and Puerto Rico to Mexico. The program was oriented toward a broad study of Spanish material culture, but was focused on majolica pottery. The Spanish olive jar discussed here was a major secondary area of attention.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Braunfell Books
• Release date: Nov 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781839749391

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1

THE SPANISH OLIVE JAR 4

INTRODUCTION 4

NOMENCLATURE 5

ORIGIN AND HISTORY 7

DISTRIBUTION 8

USES 9

OLIVE JAR TYPES 10

EARLY STYLE OLIVE JAR 11

MANUFACTURE 11

PASTE 12

VESSEL FORM 13

SURFACE TREATMENT 13

HISTORY 14

REMARKS 15

MIDDLE STYLE OLIVE JAR 16

MANUFACTURE 16

PASTE 16

VESSEL FORM 18

TABLE 1 MEASUREMENTS OF MIDDLE STYLE A OLIVE JARS 19

TABLE 2 MEASUREMENTS OF MIDDLE STYLE B OLIVE JARS 19

SURFACE TREATMENT 21

TABLE 3 PERCENTILE FREQUENCY OF GLAZED SHERDS, MIDDLE STYLE OLIVE JAR 21

HISTORY 22

LATE STYLE OLIVE JARS 25

MANUFACTURE 25

PASTE TYPE 1 25

PASTE TYPE 2 25

VESSEL FORM 26

TABLE 4. MEASUREMENTS OR LATE STYLE B OLIVE JARS 27

TABLE 5 MEASUREMENTS OF LATE STYLE C OLIVE JARS FROM FLORIDA 27

TABLE 6 MEASUREMENTS OF LATE STYLE D OLIVE JARS 28

SURFACE TREATMENT 29

HISTORY 29

DATING OF TYPES 30

TABLE 7. FREQUENCY OF OLIVE JAR SHERDS, CONVENTO DE SAN FRANCISCO, 0’-5’ 31

STRATIGRAPHIC SEQUENCES 32

SERIATION AND ASSOCIATIONAL EVIDENCE 34

DISCUSSION 36

METHODOLOGY 36

COMPARATIVE IDENTIFICATION OF TYPES 37

TABLE 8. A COMPARISON OF OLIVE JAR MODES 38

CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS 41

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 43

APPENDIX: ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES 44

BIBLIOGRAPHY 48

PLATES 52

EXPLANATION OF PLATES 52

THE SPANISH OLIVE JAR,

AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY

BY

JOHN M. GOGGIN

THE SPANISH OLIVE JAR

INTRODUCTION

FROM the earliest days of the Colonial period until Republican times, the Spanish New World was supplied with much of its necessities by the mother country. This resulted in the development of a complex export industry centered around the annual fleet sent from either Seville or Cadiz. Furthermore, the monopoly retained by Spain from time to time of certain products, such as olive oil and wine, meant that these would be part of the cargo of every fleet. Examining the meager available data of such shipping, we find references to various types of liquid containers such as wooden casks and leather bags, as well as botijuelas. This last container is the pottery vessel, here called the olive jar, represented by thousands of pottery sherds and occasional whole vessels wherever the Spanish stopped.

With a little practice the archeologist can readily recognize sherds of this distinctive pottery. Moreover, as a result of a research program carried out for the last ten years in the Caribbean area, it is possible to demonstrate changes in the styles of these vessels, which make them useful as chronological markers for the archeologist and historian. The present study represents an initial contribution to the study of the olive jar, outlining major styles and indicating their time range. Although it does not completely define all minor details of this ware, some of these will be brought out in more intensive later studies of individual archeological sites.

This study is based on field and museum research centered in the Caribbean and extending from Venezuela to Florida and Puerto Rico to Mexico. The program was oriented toward a broad study of Spanish material culture, but was focused on majolica pottery. The Spanish olive jar discussed here was a major secondary area of attention. A detailed description of the archeological areas covered will be found in the report on majolica (Goggin, 1960).

Preliminary presentations of the typology embodied in this paper were given at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Chapel Hill, N. C., November 21-22, 1953, and at