Oil Jar (11A20)
A number of broken and eroded fragments of one or more large jars were found in a sandy gully close to the Mewstone at the eastern side of the entrance to Plymouth Sound.
Eight fragments were found with the largest 280 x 260mm and the smallest 150 x 125mm. The maximum radius found on any piece was 280mm and the smallest was 190 mm. One fragment included a vestigial crescent shaped handle 250mm long and 35mm wide. The fragments were all made from similar brick red stoneware with a brown wash on the inner surface. Two of the fragments are separated parts of the same piece but the break between them has marine fouling and is not recent.
The fragments are similar to the oil storage jars found near the Mewstone in 1968 and reported in the IJNA in 1972 (1). These jars were identified as oil storage jars from the 18th and 19th centuries that were in use in Europe and her colonies.
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