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| experience. In John Goggin’s introductory study he states that the ‘Middle Style...type was so wet! made that the exact method of manufacture is concealed. It seems apparent though that the body was thrown in two sections on the potter’s wheel. These were apparently joined at the shoulder, but on at! jars observed this joint is well smoothed over. A thick ring mouth, itself thrown on the wheel, was added.” | |
| There is little doubt that the olive jars were turned on a wheel and fired in a kiln. Characteristic turning marks, finger impressions, and general form make this quite evident. In the Atocha collection, however, there are no apparent shoulder joins that would indicate the jars being made from two separate pieces. The spiral swirl at the center of the base is indicative of an upside down construction, pulling the walls of the vessel upwards, then smoothing over the bottom. The lack of finger marks on the inside of the base ending just before the closure supports this conclusion. There are also small irregularities and clay droppings on the inside of the base that may suggest the potter could not see them to correct. | |
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The midsection seems to have been worked upwards with still no visible evidence of joins on the interiors. Finger grooves are prevalent on the interiors with many of the exteriors as if wiped with a cloth or light tooling. The smoother exterior and white slip appearance may also reflect 353 years of erosion or surf abrasion. The manufacturing technique of the neck and rim sections is still not clear at this time. The following technique is suggested: Due to the lack of finger turning marks on the upper portion of the neck exterior (they do occur on the interior supporting the upside down throw-ins technique), it is believed (he vessel was removed from the wheel, and turned right side-up. There are some examples with a small “scar” around the exterior base that may have been caused from being placed upright in a ‘chuck”, or donut shaped holder for support, to complete the top half of the jar once inverted. The exterior waste around the shoulders and neck was then smoothed, and the initial lip for the mouth was formed. This may have occurred after a few hours of sun drying at the leather hard stage. |
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There was no firm evidence to support the theory that the rims were also formed on a wheel. On several of the examples join marks are visible on the interior of the mouth and under the rim on the exterior connecting the neck. These finds indicate that the rims themselves were added and connected to the existing mouth. Means of manufacture may include rolling a cylinder of clay, then wrapping it around the mouth. There is evidence of smoothing the interior of the mouth with a finger while turning, thus completing the join. The exterior rim appears to have been braced during the fusion of the interior mouth to the rim, possibly with the palm of the potter’s hand, as little attention was paid to the join between the exterior neck and lower portion of the rim. The general shape of the mouth, a sloping “V”, indicates manufacture specifically for insertion of a cork, The 12 rims with corks still in place and neck/rim sherds support this hypothesis. Individual stylistic variations in rim shaping on jars differ substantially, thus making rim to vessel form comparisons difficult, PRELIMINARY “OLIVE JAR” FABRIC AND PASTE ANALYSIS The Atocha olive jar” material appears made predominantly from coarse paste, with numerous inclusions, and in several cases |
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