A blue glass jar from a soldier’s burial

In one of the cremation pits discovered at the Valiant Soldier site were four glass vessels- two blue, one emerald green and one of clear glass.

This image shows the restored form of the best-preserved vessel, viewed from above, following a prolonged conservation programme in the Conservation Laboratory of Exeter City Museums. It is a free-blown blue glass jar with a folded-over rim and pushed-up base. The vessel was certainly imported into Britain, possibly from the Middle Rhineland, where similar finds are known on military sites.

Publication: Charlesworth, D. 1979, ‘Glass (including material from all other Exeter sites excavated between 1971 and 1976)’, in Bidwell, P.T. 'The legionary bath-house and basilica and forum at Exeter'.

Acknowledgments: Exeter City Museums