By Gail Brown, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites archaeology specialist
When working on an archaeological site, odds are typically against finding an unbroken bottle – let alone a complete bottle still sealed with the original contents inside. However, museum staff recently discovered four sealed bottles containing their original liquids in one of our archaeological collections from the Julia M. Carson Transit Center in downtown Indianapolis.
This is cool on one hand, but potentially hazardous on the other.
The site was excavated in 2015, and the collection consists of thousands of artifacts that reflect everyday life in Indianapolis throughout the 19th and 20th centuries – including those four sealed bottles with liquid inside.
Although the bottles and liquids can provide a unique perspective on what was occurring at the site, they can also provide a challenge to preserving the collection.
After all, what is the liquid? Is it harmful, poisonous, acidic, flammable, or worse – explosive? What kind of harm can the liquid bring to the artifacts and staff? Will fumes from the liquid cause illness? Will it cause damage to other artifacts? Should we get rid of it? How do we get rid of it safely? Should we preserve the liquid?
As we wrestled with these questions and others, it became clear that to safely deal with the bottles and mystery liquids, we needed to identify the liquid inside. The identification process began by examining the bottles and any clues they possess.
Do they have any identifying labels or markings? Do they have unique shapes or designs that can be tracked down?
1960s Gallo wine bottle – duct tape added by excavation team to help seal the bottle
One bottle had the mark “Gallo Flavor Guard Glass.” The bottle also had a design that matched with other examples. The liquid was a deep, dark red with a lot of sediment on the bottom.
Putting those clues together, we identified what we have as a 1960s Gallo wine bottle with contents that are NOT harmful and can be left for future generations to sample 20th-century wine.
OK – one down and three to go.
Although a few of the bottles had embossed maker’s marks on their bases, we were unable to identify the manufacturer for three.
