An olive jar from Seville

These rough, mass produced jars were made in vast numbers in the area around Seville and used to carry Spanish produce along most of the coastline of Europe, to the Americas and beyond. Sherds of well over 100 examples have been recovered from Exeter; they are by far the commonest class of southern European ceramics in the city. The reason may be that they were used to transport olive oil, an essential material for Exeter's cloth finishing trade.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum Exeter Archaeology