Botija – A Brief History
The Botija
is a descendant from the Greek and Roman jars (also known as Amphora).[1] These
ancient civilisations used these jars to carry wine (in amphora) and olive oil
(in rounder jars). For the Spanish, they were used to transport food across the
Atlantic during the 16th, 17th and 18th
centuries. Common foods included honey, wine, vinegar and oil.
In 1492, Christopher Colombus opened
up opportunities for Spain in the ‘New World’ after his expedition west to
India. What followed has been called a ‘gold rush’ (much like what occurred in the
USA in the 19th century).[2] The Spanish went over to the Americas for
materials and trade with some people setting up home there. Because of this,
they wanted to have some reminders and comforts of home. These had to be
transported across the sea.
Much was needed to be transported and these botija’s were
cheap to make and their shape made them ideally suited for ocean voyages.[3]
During this journey, the top of the jars would be corked and hung on racks by a
rope tied around the rim of the jar.[4]
By the time our jar was used, Spain had been colonising and taking
raw materials from the Americas for two centuries. But in the period that our
jar was used, Spain’s strength in the area was waning.[5]
One scholar shows how our jar is the third style of this jar to have been made.
There was the early style (1500 – 1580), the middle style (1580 – 1780) and the
late style (1780 – 1850) – see image.[6]
Today, these jars have been recovered from shipwrecks in and
around the West Indies and the Caribbean.[7]
FUN FACT! The word botija in a Spanish dictionary means buried treasure or earthenware jug.[8]
But they are commonly, now, known as Olive Jars. This is phrase was coined by
an academic called Holmes in 1903.[9] This
is because the word botija could mean many different things.[10]
Opal and Out.
[1] Mitchell W. Marken, Pottery
from Spanish Shipwrecks 1500 – 1800, (Gainesville: University Press of
Florida, 1994), p. 41.
[2] Marken,
Pottery, p. 42.
[3] Marken,
Pottery, p. 43.
[4] National Park service (2017), Jar, <https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/asset/jar/JQFqIKSJ41Yt8g>,
[accessed 4/2/2017].
[5] Marken,
Pottery, p. 43.
[6] James, S. (1988), A
Reassessment of the Chronological and Typological Framework of the Spanish
Olive Jar, Historical Archaeology, 22(1), pp. 43-66.
[7]
Marken, Pottery, p. 41 and National Park service (2017), Jar.
[8] Bab.la,
Botija, <http://en.bab.la/dictionary/spanish-english/botija>
[accessed 4/2/2017]
[9] Marken,
Pottery, p. 41.
[10]
Marken, Pottery, p. 45.
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