Bottle, Frontinus bottle

This Roman glass bottle with a handle and raised bands of decoration was found at Mansell Street (city and Tower Hamlets) and dates to 150-300 CE. It was made by blowing glass into a mould, and the bottle has a blue-green appearance. On the bottom of the bottle, is the maker's mark in Latin 'FRONTSEXTIN', which is an abbreviation of his name 'Frontinus Sexinus' - he was a skilled and renowned glass-maker, who worked in France. His bottles have been found in Britain, France and Germany. The glass has a blue-green appearance and the bottle would have been sealed with a wooden or cork stopper. It is believed that these four-sided bottles were used to ship food around the empire, filled with foodstuffs such as olive oil. We do not know what this bottle contained, but scientific analyses of other similar bottles have found vegetable oil, probably olive oil. Archaeologists found this bottle in the burial of a woman, where it had been carefully placed, so they had food or drink on their journey to the afterlife, or enabled them to 'join in' the funerary feast their mourners would have had at the grave-side. These feasts took place when the person was buried and also at an annual festival. Archaeologists think that this bottle may have been an heirloom, as it had been carefully looked after for many years before it was placed in the person's grave.