Storage Jars Research Articles

The Southeast Asian water frontier: coastal trade and mid-fifteenth c. CE “hill tribe” burials, southeastern Cambodia

In mainland Southeast Asia, the so-called water frontier unified an otherwise geographically broad and culturally disparate economic network of long-, medium-, and short-distance trade of the 14th–17th century CE “Age of Commerce.” Focus on the rise of the larger port towns supporting this burgeoning maritime trade (e.g., Ayutthaya, Melaka, Hoi An) has overshadowed smaller maritime operations that must have serviced less regulated coastlines. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence of likely supply lines for relatively remote sites in the Southern Cardamom Ranges of southwestern Cambodia. We present the results of a geochemical analysis of ceramics from two contemporary and short-lived assemblages: comprehensively dated mid-15th c. to mid-17th c. CE burial complexes in the Cardamom Mountains, and a dated shipwreck (KohS’dech) recovered from waters off the adjacent coastline. We compare the shipwreck assemblage with other wreck assemblages to contextualize it within larger maritime exchange patterns. The KohS’dech wreck assemblage appears typical of a Southeast Asian short-haul coastal trader of this period, with a cargo consisting of a range of utilitarian household ceramics: large, medium, and small glazed stoneware storage jars, earthenware cooking pots, stoves and mortars, and “tableware” bowls. Comparison of burial, shipwreck, and reference ceramic compositional data confirms the jars and fine wares predominantly came from multiple production centers in Central and Northern Thailand. The few Angkorian jars identified in the burials were evidently heirlooms from what was, by the mid-15th c. CE, a likely defunct Khmer production complex east of Angkor. The results of this provenience analysis highlight (a) the Cardamom burials as an example of previously undocumented unregulated coastal interaction and (b) the relatively sophisticated and coordinated market-oriented strategies of inland ceramic producers at this time. For mainland Southeast Asia, the water frontier integrated not only ethnically diverse maritime port communities, but also those in more remote inland regions.

Exploring Diversity in Household Pottery Traditions in Crusader Greece: a Case Study from the City of Thebes, Boeotia

This paper provides new data on an under‐documented topic in Aegean archaeology, that of the impact of Latin–Greek cohabitation on craftsmanship, socio‐economic organization and household pottery traditions. The chosen approach is a petrographic study of the provenance and technology of 37 cooking pots, jugs, basins and storage jars from the city of Thebes, Boeotia. The ceramics span from the late 12th to the mid‐14th century and thereby cover the periods of Byzantine, Frankish and Catalan control over the city. The analysis indicates that most pottery products were not locally made during these periods. Pottery consumption at Thebes involved, in the 12th/13th century, regional products from northern Boeotia, while pottery supplies from Euboea that had developed under Byzantine rule continued into the 14th century, well after Boeotia and Euboea came into the hands of, respectively, Frankish and Venetian lords in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1204). The petrographic analysis also allows for the characterization of Byzantine and Latin tempering practices of the pottery fabrics. These results highlight phenomena of regional economic reliance in central Greece and provide rare evidence for the cross‐cultural diffusion of technological knowledge in the late medieval Mediterranean.

Tel Beth-Shemesh: Iron IIA Judahite Pottery Typology and Finger Impressed Jar Handles

The article presents two pottery assemblages exposed in 2017 at Tel Beth-Shemesh, in the Level 3 Iron IIA Judahite administrative centre that replaced the Iron I Canaanite villages of Levels 7–4. The assemblages contribute to the study of the typological-chronological development of Iron IIA pottery in Judah. Both date to the mid-/late Iron IIA, i.e., the first half/mid-9th century BCE. Two storage jars in the assemblages bear finger impressions. Contrary to recent suggestions that these impressions testify to early Iron IIA Judahite or Israelite centralised administration, we understand them as a Bronze Age phenomenon affiliated with the Canaanite population of the Shephelah and the northern valleys that reached its apogee during the late Iron I/early Iron IIA.

Kasnorimski lonci za pohranu s T-oblikom ruba iz Rifnika kod Celja

The period at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries produced a wealth of pottery, including large storage jars with a T-shaped rim and decorated with single or multiple wavy lines and horizontal grooves on the rim and body. It is a fairly specific pottery form that is quite rare at Slovenian sites; apart from Rifnik, a more substantial quantity has only been excavated in Kranj. Elsewhere (Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia), such jars are known in greater numbers on a few sites only and are similar to those from Rifnik in shape and decoration, but not fabric. At Rifnik, their fabric is the same as that used for several other kinds of pottery from the same period, which suggests a local production that followed the general trends of the day.

مہر گڑھ :تاریخ وکِڑد، اسہ گونڈ وجاچ اس

Mehrgarh is one of the ancient settlements, which is situated in district of Kachi (Bolan) on the foot hills of Bolan river near Dahdar. The ancient settlement is belonged to Neolithic period (7000BCE-2600BCE). The French Archaeological team took part in the excavations of Mehrgarh under the supervision of Jean Fransco Jarrige since 1974 to 2000. After a long period, the team has excavated seven periods of Mehrgarh mound. The team conclude that the ancient people of Mehrgarh were well advanced and developed. The archaeological evidences of Mehrgarh proves that the inhabitants of area had introduced first time village culture network, Terracotta figurine (human and animals), domestication of plants (wheat, rice and barely) and animals (waterbufallo) in South Asia. Mehrgarh had produced remains of dental surgery who able to treats the affected teeth on that time by the help of an ancient technology. however, the inhabitants of Mehrgarh used to storage jar for the purpose of seeds storage. The ancient population had trade linked among neighboring populations as well long distance communication such as Iran, Afghanistan, Oman and Mesopotamia through sea and land routes.

Ensiled Wet Storage Accelerates Pretreatment for Bioconversion of Corn Stover.

Organic acids produced during ensiled wet storage are beneficial during the storage process, both for biomass preservation, and to aid in mild in-situ pretreatment. However, there is concern these acids could later have negative impacts on downstream processes, especially microbial fermentation. Organic acids can inhibit microbial metabolism or growth, which in turn could affect biofuel productivity or yield. This study investigated the interaction of organic acids produced during ensiled storage with subsequent pretreatment of the resulting corn stover silage, as well as the potential for interference with downstream ethanol fermentation. Interaction with pretreatment was observed by measuring xylan and glucan removal and the formation of inhibitors. The results indicated that organic acids generally do not impede downstream processes and in fact can be beneficial. The levels of organic acids produced during 220 days of storage jar tests at 23°C or 37°C, and their transformation during pretreatment, remained below inhibitory levels. Concentrations of individual acids did not exceed 6 g per liter of the pretreated volume, and < 5% on a dry matter basis. Whereas, unensiled corn stover required 15 min of 190°C pretreatment to optimize sugar release, ensiled corn stover could be treated equally effectively at a lower pretreatment duration of 10 min. Furthermore, the different organic acid profiles that accumulate at various storage moisture levels (35–65%) do not differ significantly in their impact on downstream ethanol fermentation. These results indicate biorefineries using ensiled corn stover feedstock at 35–65% moisture levels can expect as good or better biofuel yields as with unensiled stover, while reducing pretreatment costs.

Challenges and Scopes of Pottery Industry

Pottery is unique art of making artifacts from clay. It produces different kinds of clay and ceramics items such as flowerpots, water and grain storage jars, large vessels for distilling rice spirits called rakshi, cooking pots, tableware, stoneware cups, bowls, and plates, stoneware pitcher and mug, etc. This research aims to examine challenges faced by the pottery industries and to examine scopes of the pottery industries in Nepal. This research is based on the descriptive method. The results show that there is good scope in the this industry but the people involved in this industry are facing different kinds of challenges or problems like shortage of raw materials, manpower, and lack of space to dry the formed pottery, firing pottery, to store the finished goods along with the different raw materials. The sales of the product in the national and international markets are being increased. This industry is being affected by the change in lifestyle and different substitute products. The intermediaries get good profits but they face the problem of getting the products damaged, demand dependent on the festive occasion, problem of transportation, etc. Study shows that there is a huge demand for Nepali handmade ceramic products in the international market due to their improved quality. Buyers are willing to pay a premium for handmade goods, which are propelling exports. Pravaha Vol. 24, No. 1, 2018, Page: 147-158

Impact of moisture content and maize weevils on maize quality during hermetic and non-hermetic storage

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of moisture content and Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky on maize quality during hermetic and non-hermetic storage conditions. Commercial Channel 211-97 hybrid maize kernels were conditioned to 14, 16, 18, and 20% moisture content (wet basis), and then three replications of 300 g of maize grain were stored in glass jars or triple Ziploc® slider 66-μm(2.6-mil) polyethylene bags at four conditions: hermetic with weevils, hermetic no-weevils, non-hermetic with weevils, non-hermetic no-weevils. All jars and bags were stored in an environmental chamber at 27 °C and 70% relative humidity for either 30 or 60 d. At the end of each storage period, jars and bags were assessed for visual mold growth, mycotoxin levels, gas concentrations, pH level, the numbers of live and dead S. zeamais, and maize moisture content. The maize stored in non-hermetic conditions with weevils at 18 and 20% exhibited high levels of mold growth and aflatoxin contamination (>150 ppb). Conversely, very little mold growth was observed in maize stored in hermetic, and no aflatoxins were detected in any moisture level. CO2 increased and O2 gradually decreased as storage time increased for maize stored in hermetic conditions (with or without weevils) in all moisture level. No significant difference in pH was observed in any storage conditions (P < 0.05). Total mortality (100%) of S. zeamais was observed in all hermetically stored samples at the end of 60 days storage. Moisture content for hermetically stored maize was relatively constant. A positive correlation between moisture content and storage time was observed for maize stored in non-hermetic with weevils (r = 0.96, P < 0.05). The results indicate that moisture content and the number of S. zeamais weevils plays a significant role in maize storage, both under hermetic and non-hermetic conditions.

Degradation of Organophosphorus and Pyrethroid Insecticides in Beverages: Implications for Risk Assessment.

Since urinary insecticide metabolites are commonly used as biomarkers of exposure, it is important that we quantify whether insecticides degrade in food and beverages in order to better perform risk assessment. This study was designed to quantify degradation of organophosphorus and pyrethroid insecticides in beverages. Purified water, white grape juice, orange juice, and red wine were fortified with 500 ng/mL diazinon, malathion, chlorpyrifos, permethrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, and deltamethrin, and aliquots were extracted several times over a 15-day storage period at 2.5 °C. Overall, statistically significant loss of at least one insecticide was observed in each matrix, and at least five out of seven insecticides demonstrated a statistically significant loss in all matrices except orange juice. An investigation of an alternative mechanism of insecticide loss—adsorption onto the glass surface of the storage jars—was carried out, which indicated that this mechanism of loss is insignificant. Results of this work suggest that insecticides degrade in these beverages, and this degradation may lead to pre-existing insecticide degradates in the beverages, suggesting that caution should be exercised when using urinary insecticide metabolites to assess exposure and risk.

The Plurality of Harbors at Caesarea: The Southern Anchorage in Late Antiquity

The engineering marvel of Sebastos, or Portus Augusti as it was called in Late Antiquity (284–638 CE), dominated Caesarea’s harbor center along modern Israel’s central coast but it was only one part of a larger maritime complex. The Southern Anchorage provides a case study as one portion of the Caesarea complex, as well as a node within the regional network of anchorages and small harbors. Ceramics recovered from here show a high percentage of locally, and provincially, produced storage jars engaged in maritime trade. The ceramic evidence points towards an intensified regional trade or cabotage rather than favouring long distance trade from large port to port. Working out of these small harbors, opportunities arose for greater flexibility in specialization of commodities and materials passing through the network of subsidiary ports, contributing to a more diversified market economy. This analysis provides another example in the growing focus on how these simple and semi-modified anchorages in the Eastern Mediterranean were often the predominant economic networks connecting hinterland and coastal trade.

Chemical analyses of Egyptian mummification balms and organic residues from storage jars dated from the Old Kingdom to the Copto-Byzantine period

Twenty three samples of Egyptian organic materials, spanning from the Old Kingdom to the Copto-Byzantine Period, were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The sample set was comprised of ten balm samples from human mummies, three balms from shrews, and ten samples of residues scraped from jars and amphora from storehouses.This research program was undertaken with two main goals:Firstly to provide complementary data on the mummification balms from both humans and animals with an emphasis on the occurrence of bitumen in mummification mixtures.Secondly to explore whether the jar residues were mixtures that were used for mummification purposes or whether they were pure ingredients stored for various uses including ritual practices.The analysis highlighted that the most abundant constituents of the mummification balms were: fats or oils, waxes, conifer resin, pitch, mastic resin, castor oil, and bitumen. Balms from animal mummies were not found to be significantly different from the balms from human mummies. Residues from potsherds appeared to belong to two categories: pure products (fats and castor oil) and mixtures containing fats, Pinaceae resin and pitch, mastic resin, and castor oil, i.e. the constituents also identified in mummification balms. The mixtures were thus residues of preparations for ritual practices and embalming.This study demonstrates that bitumen is underestimated by the chemical approach currently applied in most archaeometric studies of Egyptian organic residues, which are better suited for the identification of lipids and resinous materials. We thus applied a specific analytical design, targeted at bitumen. Bitumen from the Dead Sea was conclusively identified using as reference materials for comparison, i.e. the present day bitumen from the Dead Sea floating blocks, as well as several bitumens from mummification balms and bitumen lumps unearthed from the archaeological site of Tell Yarmouth near Jerusalem in Israel.

The Bristol Royal Infirmary specimen collection

In a cupboard in the mortuary of the University Hospitals Bristol, a large number of specimens were discovered. They were stacked high on walled shelving and presented in glass storage jars preserv...

A Roman pottery kiln at Khirbet ‘Azzun (Ra‘anana), Israel

This paper focuses on a 3rd–4th century AD pottery kiln from Khirbet ‘Azzun (Ra‘anana), in the Sharon, in the central coastal plain of Israel. The kiln belongs to the updraft type, with an oval-shaped and crater-like firebox, a fuel opening on the north and spanned by brick arches designed to support the floor of the missing ware chamber. Like many other kilns in that region, it produced storage jars. Our kiln is the first from the region dating to the Roman period, to be fully studied. The kiln’s components, technology and supposed process of operation will be examined closely, in light of other kilns from Roman-Byzantine Palestine and ethnoarchaeological evidence.

Six centuries of geomagnetic intensity variations recorded by royal Judean stamped jar handles

Earth's magnetic field, one of the most enigmatic physical phenomena of the planet, is constantly changing on various time scales, from decades to millennia and longer. The reconstruction of geomagnetic field behavior in periods predating direct observations with modern instrumentation is based on geological and archaeological materials and has the twin challenges of (i) the accuracy of ancient paleomagnetic estimates and (ii) the dating of the archaeological material. Here we address the latter by using a set of storage jar handles (fired clay) stamped by royal seals as part of the ancient administrative system in Judah (Jerusalem and its vicinity). The typology of the stamp impressions, which corresponds to changes in the political entities ruling this area, provides excellent age constraints for the firing event of these artifacts. Together with rigorous paleomagnetic experimental procedures, this study yielded an unparalleled record of the geomagnetic field intensity during the eighth to second centuries BCE. The new record constitutes a substantial advance in our knowledge of past geomagnetic field variations in the southern Levant. Although it demonstrates a relatively stable and gradually declining field during the sixth to second centuries BCE, the new record provides further support for a short interval of extreme high values during the late eighth century BCE. The rate of change during this "geomagnetic spike" [defined as virtual axial dipole moment > 160 ZAm2 (1021 Am2)] is further constrained by the new data, which indicate an extremely rapid weakening of the field (losing ∼27% of its strength over ca. 30 y).

Reconsideraciones sobre materiales cerámicos romanos de construcción: economía, logística y factores sociales en el suministro de tejas a Dorchester en el Támesis, Oxfordshire

Este trabajo analiza el suministro de materiales constructivos cerámicos de época romana de Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. La mineralogía y la composición química del material latericio se han analizado con láminas delgadas y microscopía electrónica de barrido. En el caso de esta “pequeña ciudad” romana se ha demostrado la presencia de una producción local de tegulae que, en ocasiones, se transportaban a 50 Km de distancia por carretera. La composición del material empleado para la fabricación de algunas tegulae es análoga a la utilizada en la producción de grandes jarras de almacenamiento en las cercanías del parque de Stowe, Buckinghamshire. En este sentido, se analizan los mecanismos y la logística que permitieron la producción y el transporte a larga distancia de estos materiales y se discuten los factores sociales y económicos que intervinieron en su proceso de producción y adquisición. El estudio demuestra, además, la importancia de la investigación de estos elementos constructivos sencillos que ofrecen para registro arqueológico informaciones y visibilidad a los estratos sociales más bajos.

The Good Woman: the provenance and purpose of Montelupo oil jars

In memory of Ronald Coleman of Chapel Hill, Queensland, Australia (1938–2008)SUMMARY: The Tuscan origin of the characteristic large oil jars found all over the world was confirmed by neutron activation analysis about 20 years ago, although some still call them Iberian storage jars. Our paper presents the unpublished analytical data and considers whose oil they contained. Italian records show that in the 18th century Montelupo despatched coppi (jars) down the River Arno to Lucca, where the best Italian olive oil was produced, and to Livorno (Leghorn), then the largest emporium in the Mediterranean for transit trade. In London, the jars became a familiar sight with different high and popular cultural meanings.

Les sites de production des jarres de stockage vietnamiennes pour le commerce maritime, du XVIe au XVIIIe siècle : état de la recherche

Between the 16th and 18th century, Vietnamese ceramic products, including large storage jars, are found among the artefacts on board Chinese merchant ships. Whether these jars are meant to be traded or are used for daily life aboard ships, they travel in the hands of Chinese merchants and tell us about particular aspects of the maritime trading economy. By the end of the 15th century, Vietnamese productions, including storage jars, appeared alongside Chinese ceramics at Southeast Asian export sites, as well as along the routes of international maritime trade. Their production sites are now well known thanks to the many excavations carried out for the past twenty years, but the role of these jars and all the agents that led them from the production centres of the Red River Delta and the centre of Vietnam to distribution sites are yet to be determined. We present here some of the known production sites in the north and centre of Vietnam, and an analysis of the quasi-absence of signs of storage jar production at the kiln sites linked to international ceramic trade.

Rethinking Storage Jars Found in the 9th to 20th Centuries Archaeological Sites in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau

This article gives a brief overview of the storage jars of the 9th to 20th centuries found in archaeological sites of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. We aim to study the characteristics of these storage jars in terms of type, shape, size and function(s). Four stages are discernable according to the characteristics of jars and the changes in trading patterns at local, regional and international levels: 9th to early 10th centuries; mid-10th to 13th centuries; 14th to 16th centuries; 16th to 20th centuries. We then compare the similarities and differences between the findings of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. Finally, we discuss the continuity and rupture of storage jars production in Guangdong district based on the archaeological data and historical documentation.

Early Results of an Investigation into Ancient Kiln Sites Producing Ceramic Storage Jars and Some Related Issues

Storage jars, in spite of size variance, share some common characteristics in terms of their coarse body and glaze and rare decoration and thus had received little attention from researchers. However, more attention was recently paid to these jars, in terms of their production places and their functions: first, scholars in Japan studied these jars in relation with tea drinking rituals; secondly, the development of underwater archaeology resulted in the exposure of many jars, in various sizes. This paper introduces some kiln sites where jars were unearthed after systematic excavations, along the coastal areas of southern China (kiln sites of Guanchong, Dagangshan and Qishi in Guangdong, and of Cizao in Fujian). The paper also discusses the functions of the jars. It also pays attention to insufficiently studied jars produced in northern China. Based on archaeological findings, the paper shows that large-size jars only appeared there in the latter part of the 11th century, later than in southern China. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the major production places of these jars were Cizhou kiln in Hebei and Juntai kiln in Henan. The basic function of these jars was to store water.

Container Jars from the Maenam Noi Kilns, Thailand: Use and Reuse along Maritime Trade Routes in Asia

The Maenam Noi kilns are situated alongside the river by that name, a tributary of the Chao Phraya, in Singburi province, Bang Rachan district. The river system connected the kilns to the capital city and international trading port of Ayutthaya. From the 15th through 17th centuries, these kilns provided the huge quantities of storage jars in various standard shapes and sizes used to ship all manner of commercial goods from the port into the world. Evidence for the production, use (and reuse) of Maenam Noi jars is particularly rich. Several kilns have been excavated and are among the largest kiln structures known in Southeast Asia. Jars are found on shipwrecks spanning the Cape of Good Hope to the coast of Vietnam, and a wreck recently recovered from Cambodian waters holds a virtual inventory of wares from the kiln. In Japan, finds of the jars in the deep and well dated archaeological site of the port city of Sakai have provided evidence for a chronology of jar shapes. Finally, the many roles assumed by the jars within cultures that received them range from storage containers for sulfur (an ingredient of gunpowder) in Sakai to secondary burial vessels in upland Cambodia.