Square one-handled bottle, ash urn

Square bottles were widespread and popular throughout the Roman Empire from the 1st century AD. Produced in various sizes, they were used to store liquid and solid foods, closed with lids made of wood or other organic material. Larger models were also used as ash urns. The exhibited bottle comes from one of the cemeteries of the Roman city of Aventicum (Avenches) in Switzerland; it contained the ashes of a woman cremated in the 2nd century AD. The grave included various grave goods: clay and glass drinking and eating utensils and a perfume bottle.

Raw glass was initially produced and processed on an industrial scale in Egypt and on the Syro-Palestinian coast (today Israel, Lebanon and Syria). Egyptian raw glass in particular was exported to various Roman provinces and processed there. From the 2nd – 3rd century AD onwards, raw glass production is also known from the Western Roman Empire. The raw glass in the urn on display probably comes from Egypt. The blue-green tint is described as the natural colour of the glass; it is caused by metal oxides in the processed raw material sand.

Glass blowing has been known since the later 1st century BC. The belly of the square bottle was blown into a shape with a square cross-section, on the bottom of which three concentric circles were incised. This pattern is visible as a relief on the bottom of the bottle. A wide variety of bottom marks made in the manner described are applied to square bottles. Some of these are manufacturer’s marks, others are probably indications of content or capacity. The handle was made separately and attached to the vessel.

Glass workshops have existed in Aventicum since around 40 AD. It can be assumed that square bottles were produced in situ from imported raw glass.