Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A reassessment of the chronological and typological framework of the spanish Olive Jar

  • Article
  • Published:
Historical Archaeology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Bound for New Spain in 1724, the Conde de Tolosa and the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe sank on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic during a hurricane. Recent salvage of the two wrecks was undertaken by Caribe Salvage. Among the items recovered were over 600 complete Olive Jars. Employed as a main type of shipping container by the Spanish during their exploration and colonization of the Americas, the Olive Jar, with its various forms, has been shown by recent studies to be a temporal indicator.

Housed at the Museo de las Casa Reales in Santo Domingo, the jars of the Tolosa and Guadalupe represent the largest intact Olive Jar assemblage recovered in the New World. Analysis of these containers imparts a wealth of information critical to the understanding of this widely used and diffused ceramic type. Besides revealing a previously unreported form, the study suggests needed changes in both the chronological and typological framework of the Olive Jar and addresses previous hypotheses about intended capacities and contents and rim attributes and glazing frequencies employed as temporal indicators.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Archivo General de las Indias (AGI), CT 2932. 1566 Relacion de los bastimentos, artillerja y armas...

  • Arcila Farías, Eduardo 1946 Economía colonial de Venezuela. Fondo De Cultura Economia, Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, Barto J., and Robert Weddle 1978 The Nautical Archaeology of Padre Island: Spanish Shipwrecks of 1554. Texas Antiquities Committee Publication No. 7. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ash, H. B., E. S. Forster, and E. H. Heffner 1968 Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella: On Agriculture and Trees, vol. 3. Loeb Classical Library, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baart, Jan, Wiard Krrok, Ab Lagerweb, Nina Ocker, Hans Van Regtern Alten, Tuuk Stam, Henk Stoepker, Gerard Southart, and Monika Van Der Swan. 1977 opravignen In Amsterdam—20 Jarr Stadskenonder-zoek. Fibula Van Dishoeck, Haarlem, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton, Kenneth James 1981 Coarse Earthenwares From the Fortress of Louisbourg. History and Archaeology 55:4–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beidleman, Dona Katharine 1976 Ceramic Remains As Indicators Of Socio-Economic Status In Colonial St. Augustine. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borrell, Pedro J. 1980 Arqueología submarino en la Republica Dominicana. Comisión De Rescate Arqueólogico Submarino, Grupo De Investigaciones Submarino (GIS), Santo Domingo.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1983 Historia y rescate de galeon Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion. Comisíon De Rescate Arqueólogico Submarino, Grupo De Investigaciones Submarino (GIS), Santo Domingo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrera Stampa, Manuel 1949 The Evolution of Weights and Measures in New Spain. Hispanic American Historical Review 29:2–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clausen, Carl J. 1965 A 1715 Spanish Treasure Ship. Contributions Of The Florida State Museum, Social Sciences 12. University of Florida, Gainesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deagan, Kathleen 1978 The Material Assemblage of 16th Century Spanish Florida. Historical Archaeology 12:25–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbanks, Charles H. 1975 Spanish Artifacts At The Fortress Of Louisbourg. Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers 9:30–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • García Fuentes, Lutgardo 1980 El comercio Español con América, 1650–1700. E.E.H.A., Alfonso XII, 16, Sevilla.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goggin, John M. 1960 The Spanish Olive Jar: An Introductory Study. Yale University Publications in Anthropology No. 62. New Haven, Connecticut.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1968 Spanish Majolica In The New World. Yale University Publications in Anthropology No. 72. New Haven, Connecticut.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, Earl J. 1929 Subsistence on Spanish Treasure Ships. The Journal of Political Economy 37(4):430–450.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, Donald A. 1971 A French Colonial Well: Its Construction, Excavation and Contents. Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers 5:51–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, Donald A., and Jerry J. Nielson 1972 Archaeological Salvage Investigations at the Site of The French Fort Conde, Mobile, Alabama. Submitted to Alabama Highway Department, Contract No. 1–10–1(3). Copies available from Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama.

  • James, Jr., Stephen R. 1982 Analysis of the Coarse Earthenwares from the San Esteban, 41KN10. Ms. on file, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A & M University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keith, D. H., J. A. Duff, S. R. James, T. J. Oertling, and J. J. Simmons 1984 The Molasses Reef Wreck, Turks and Caicos Islands, B.W.I.: A Preliminary Report. The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 13(1):45–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkman, James 1974 Fort Jesus: A Portuguese Fortress on the East African Coast. Clarendon Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langouet, Loic 1973 Les jarres de la Ranee. Annales de la Societe d’Histoire et d’ Archéologie de l’ Arrondissement de Saint-Malo, 1–13.

  • Long, George Ashley 1967 Archeological Investigations at Panama Vieja. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyon, Eugene 1976 The Enterprise Of Florida: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Conquest of 1565–1568. University Presses of Florida, Gainesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marken, Mitchell W. 1986 Ceramics from the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, Wrecked 1622. Shipwreck Archaeology, Key West, Florida.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, Colin J. M. 1979 Spanish Armada Pottery. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 8(4):279–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayes, Philip 1972 Port Royal, Jamaica: Excavations 1969–1970. W. S. Maney and Sons, Leeds, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre, Keith A. 1983 Analysis of Olive Jar Rims From the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the Santa Margarita: A Step Towards Detecting Change Through Time in Olive Jar Rim Forms. Ms. on file, Florida State Museum, Gainesville.

  • Olds, Dorris L. 1976 Texas Legacy from the Gulf: A Report on 16th Century Shipwreck Material From the Texas Tidelands. Texas Memorial Museum Miscellaneous Papers 5, Texas Antiquities Committee Publication Number 2. Austin.

  • Ortega, Elpidio, and Carmen Fondeur 1978 Arqueologia de los monumentos historicos de Santo Domingo. Serie Cientifica 7. Universidad Central del Este San Pedro de Marcoris, Republica Dominicana.

  • Pearson, Charles E. 1981 Ceramics from El Nuevo Constante. Ms. on file. Coastal Environments, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, Mendel 1969 History Under The Sea, a Handbook for Underwater Exploration. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1972 Traders And Privateers Across the Atlantic, 1492–1733. In The History of Seafaring, Based on Underwater Archaeology, edited by George F. Bass, pp. 254–280. Walker, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, Colin, and Richard Coleman-Smith 1975 Excavation in Medieval Southhampton 1953–1969, vol. 2. Leiscester University Press.

  • Rodriguez Almeida, Emilio 1972 Novedades de Epigrafia Amforeria del Monte Testaccio. In Recherches Sur Les Amphores Romaines, pp. 107–211. Rome.

  • Ruidiaz y Caravia, Eugenio 1893 La Florida: su conquista y colonizacion por Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, vol. 2. Imprenta de Los Hijos de J.A. Garcia, Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saltus, Allen 1973 Spanish Ceramics from the Shipwreck San José. Ms. on file, Coastal Environments, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sassoon, Hamo 1981 Ceramics from the Wreck of a Portuguese Ship at Mombasa. Azania 16:97–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schafer, Ernst 1938 Spaniens Koloniale Warenausfuhr nach einer Preis-liste des 16. Jahrhunderts. Ibero-Amerikanishes Archiv 12(3):313–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepard, Anna O. 1980 Ceramics for the Archaeologist. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Roger C. 1978 New World Shipwrecks, 1500–1800: A Compendium of Sites Salvaged or Excavated. Ms. on file, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A & M University, College Station.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1979 The Cayman Islands Project: Interim Report, 1979 Season. Ms. on file, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A & M University, College Station.

    Google Scholar 

  • South, Stanley 1982 Exploring Santa Elena 1981. Research Manuscript Series 184. Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1985 Excavation of the Casa Fuerte and Wells at Ft. San Felipe 1984. Research Manuscript Series 196. Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torre Revello, JosÉ 1943 Merchandise Shipped by the Spaniards to America (1534–1586). Hispanic American Historical Review 23:773–781.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres RamÍrez, D. Bibiano, and D. Javier Ortiz DE LA TABLA (EDITORS) 1978 Reglamento y aranceles reales para el comercio libre de España a Indias de 12 de Octubre de 1778. Imprenta C.S.I.C. Alfonso XII, 16 Seville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, Raymond F. 1976 The Archeology of 16th Century Nueva Cádiz. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodward, Robyn 1981 The Surface Collection from Sevilla La Nueva. Ms. on file, Institute Of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A & M University, College Station.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1980 Munson Road, Memphis, Tennessee, 38134, USA

    Stephen R. James Jr.

Authors
  1. Stephen R. James Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

James, S.R. A reassessment of the chronological and typological framework of the spanish Olive Jar. Hist Arch 22, 44–66 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374500

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374500

Search

Navigation