Green Wine Bottle Neck & Base Fragments (Archaeological Find)

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These broken shards come from the stem and base of an 19th century dark green wine bottle. We were able to date it by estimating the circumference of the base. Students at the college would have stored and drank this wine despite specific rules against doing so set by the University.
Sketch of the development of wine bottle shapes and sizes over time. Our particular artifacts came from an early 19th century bottle. The shape and color of the bottle would have prevented souring of the wine and more compact storage.
This painting depicts early American drinking culture. Even though those pictured aren't Harvard students, we can imagine that they would have been similarly pleased to be imbibing some forbidden wine during off time from their studies.
An example of an fully in-tact early 19th century wine bottle with a long neck and body, made of dark green glass. Students of the time would have stored their wine in these bottles.

Title:

Green Wine Bottle Neck & Base Fragments

Subject:

5th December, 1824

Ezekiel has recently procured some wine for the feast tonight. We have to make sure to dispose of the bottles discretely once we have finished, as we want neither the masters nor the tutors to discover that we have been clandestinely imbibing alcohol. Perhaps we ought to bury it in the yard. This will be our last celebration together before we each make the journey home for Christmastime. In my forefathers’ time I would have solely trained to have been a minister, and might have even presided over mass during these winter months – but I have other ideas for myself once I complete my education. I seek a life of adventure, passion and meaning; this is due, no doubt, to the influence that the new school of thought, transcendentalism, has had over me. I do not feel it to be intrinsically evil to seek out the pleasure that God has made possible for men to feel; I believe there is good in all natural things, including the drinking of wine. So long as Jesus himself drank it, it is good enough for me. I feel my spirit is stifled by the institution that I am a part of; its piety and stringency poison my soul and run contrary to what I know in my heart to be true; that the way to know God and to be good is to not deny the beauty of nature and the wonders of his creation, but to embrace them.

John Edward Willis

Creator:

Michael F. Hissey

Source:

Works Cited:

"An 18th Century Cult Wine's Revival." Great Wine News. Accessed May 02, 2017. http://greatwinenews.com/an-18th-century-cult-wines-revival/.

Burgess, Keith H. "A Woodsrunner's Diary." 18th Century Bottles and Cork Stoppers. Accessed May 02, 2017. http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/2014/08/18th-century-bottles-and-cork-stoppers.html.

Hume, Ivor Noël. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. Philadelphia, PA: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

"Wine Bottle." Museum of London | free museums in London | things to do in London. Accessed May 02, 2017. http://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/443877.html.

Object Name:

Green Wine Bottle Neck & Base Fragments

Inventory Description:

Green Wine Bottle Neck & Base Fragments

Peabody Number:

2016.29.751

Culture/Period:

Early 18th Century

Intrasite:

H934 Level 2

Depth:

56 cm

Class 1:

Glass

Class 2:

Bottle Glass

Class 3:

Base, Neck

Quantity:

4

Height (cm):

4.8

Width (cm):

4.3

Depth/Thickness (cm):

0.4

Notes:

Green Bottle Glass Base & Neck Fragments

Collection:

2017 Assignment 3