Pottery
The GRAN

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- Pic #1 -
Photo by Y. Rigoir
Summary: Pottery plays just as large a large role in underwater archaeological excavations as it does in land excavations. Terra cotta holds up very well to the biochemical processes that eat away heavily at organic material and some metals. It serves not only as a dating device but also as a way to better determine the origin of a shipwreck.
The ceramic material found on the site offers us a panoramic view of the every day life of the sailors. The items we will speak about are in relation to everyday life and not to the ship's payload. We found not only luxury pottery, but also common pieces used for culinary, domestic, medical, and even military ends. Their manufacturing locations are all in the north of the occidental Mediterranean: Catalonia, Provence, Liguria, Tuscany, and Latium.

Luxury Crockery
The ceramics represent a small number of the material on board (less than10%) but they are a determining factor in the dating of the site and thus represent a homogenous body of material, from both a chronological and geographical standpoint.

Three types of objects are represented: dishes or wide-rimmed plates, “boccale” or jugs, and “albarelli” or apothecary jars.

The majolica dish, as we saw, played a determining role in the study of the ship (see text entitled Dating and Origin of the Wreck). It is typical of the pieces called “ovali e rombi”, made in the workshops of Montelupo in Tuscany. A small, simply decorated bowl is also attributed to this workshop. (pic #1).
It is worth noticing the way in which the wording follows the production of the ceramic. The term majolica designates in fact the ceramics originally produced on the island of Majorca. This fabrication technique was adopted and developed in Italy; in Tuscany, Emilia, and more particularly in Faenza, where the name faillence (French word for crockery) originates.

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Photo byY. Rigoir
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Photo by Y. Rigoir

Two rather well conserved majolica pitchers originate from Liguria. They are bulb-shaped, decorated in blue and reddish orange and are characterized by a blue circular ladder revolving around a medallion (Pic #2). For one of them, the medallion is the coat of arms of the Fregosi family surmounted by a red cross on a white background that represents the city of Genoa, and San Giorgio or “Saint George”that was also adopted by the Royal Navy.
The overlapping of the two symbols: that of a family and that of a city indicates that the Fregosi family had the supreme rights as Doge of Genoa
(Pic #3).
Another pitcher, more slender in shape, both ornate with an engraving called “a steca”and a painted décor dominated by yellow and green, is of Pisane or Genoese make (Pic #4).

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- Pic #4 -
Photo by Y. Rigoir
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Photo by Y. Rigoir


The apothecary jars, or “albarelli” which are characterized by a cylindrical shape and beveling at the top and bottom, are also present. One of the stockier ones is of Genoese make and displays compartments with yellow and blue arabesques (Pic #5).
In addition to these typical shapes, we find also small dishes or bowls with handles on each side which come from the region of Valencia. One of them is from Manisses and another from the region of Rome (Pic #6).

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- Pic #6 -
Photo by Y. Rigoir
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Photo byY. Rigoir
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Photo by C. Durand

Common Crockery
Roughly crafted, but representing a wide variety of different shapes (about fifty), the common crockery is abundant on the shipwreck of the Lomellina. The most numerous is the crockery for service, private, and public use. There are open shapes: bowls and small dishes covered with a green-yellow glaze, and closed shapes: essentially pitchers with pinched spouts. These too are productions from Liguria and certainly located in Savone (Pic #7).

Another part of this common crockery is its apparent sturdiness and the predominance of green and brown colors (Pic #8). There are also some ceramic from Catalonia: a large jug topped by a basket handle, containing two brightly glazed tubular nozzles, a small brown marmite (with lid), and two narrow-neck pitchers with pinched spouts.
A rounded, globular pink marmite is a reminder of pottery from Eastern Province (Pic #9).

Between these two types of crockery, we see a large yellow dish decorated with an incised fish, type “a graffita monocroma”, which comes from the region of Savone (Pic #10).

Several ceramic pieces reveal that the presence of an apothecary (or pharmacist) on board.
There are some monochromatic (either yellow or green) apothecary jars, incised in the same way as the “fish dish”; ointment jars with a double lip to which was attached a cloth or parchment in order to protect the mixture it contained.

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- Pic #9 -
Photo by Y. Rigoir
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Photo by Y. Rigoir

 

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Photo by Christian Petron
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Photo by Christian Petron

“Fire pots”and grenades
The biggest pots are manifest as small flat- bottom amphoras (with two handles) in terra cotta measuring 30 cm high and 18 cm diameter at the handle (Pic #11). The neck has two circular handles at its base. The bulge is a grayish black color and shows traces of its turning on the pottery wheel. The superior part of the bulge still carries the traces of a wax glaze.
The handles are small and do not appear to have been designed to be gripped by hands. The interior still contained residual wood coal. It was probably a flammable projectile sealed in wax with a wick for ignition.
The weight and size of the projectile rules out its being used as a hand thrown device, however it could have been released at the end of a yard, or more certainly from a top.
This type of projectile is not specifically mentioned in the inventories that we have consulted, but it is mentioned in the various writings and blue prints dating from the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th, which are dedicated to artillery and fireworks known as fire pots. These pots were used either as incendiary projectiles or as explosive projectiles. They were hand- launched from a high point: a ship top, a castle, or even by the aid of a sling. The small handles were for attaching the ignition wick. An archaeological reference on this type of fire pot equipped with handles (even if it is on a smaller scale) is provided by the excavation of the wreck of the San Antonio de Tanna which was found near Mombassa and excavated in 1977.

Hand Bullets, pignatta alcancias
Other large quantities of projectiles were found, totaling nearly 100, either whole or in fragments. Their dimensions and weights make them veritable hand weapons. They are distributed in four different types:
The first ones are simply emptied pine cones, distinct from those found whole. They were apparently used for eating (pine nuts) and for starting fires. The emptied pine cones were probably filled with gun powder and sealed in wax. In certain “nave” inventories, the term “pignatta”designates the incendiary projectiles of the grenade style, but in the everyday language, “pigna” means pine cone. These represent without a doubt the most primitive types of grenades.
The other projectiles are terra cotta pots that differ less in their style and contents but more in the shape of their openings. Their shapes are not exactly standardized; they measure between 10 cm and 11 cm high with a 11cm bulge at the diameter. The diameter of the base varies between 6 cm and 8 cm.
The type 1 (Pic #12) has a straight neck and a slightly wide mouth, with an exterior diameter of 36 mm, which is in some cases covered with traces of wax on the entire exterior surface. This type of pot has a shape resembling a grenade, the fruit of the pomegranate tree, and one can think that this similarity in shape illustrates the etymology of the word grenade, with its military use aside. Only these pots were found still containing a black powder, which was found to be wood coal. The other types differ in width and in the shape of their opening. These were generally cited in inventories of this period; either projectiles packed with green soap (in order to make the enemies' decks slippery), or quick-lime to blind the adversary. This shows us that chemical warfare has been around for quite a long time.


© Max Guérout