Pottery double vessel

Early Bronze Age, around 2700 BC
From Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan

Apparently used in the proccessing of olive oil

Excavations in the Early Bronze Age levels at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh revealed a large multi-roomed complex, with specialized activities restricted to different areas. The building may represent something similar to a 'palace'. The remains were well preserved, as they were destroyed by an intense fire, which had baked hard the mud brick walls, sometimes preserving them to a height of 1.5 metres.

One of the rooms in the complex was carefully constructed and sunken, in a way perhaps designed to keep whatever was stored there cool. Narrow-necked storage jars found in the room suggested that liquids such as wine or olive oil were indeed kept there. Botanical remains from the room included charred beams of olive wood, and a large deposit of charred olive stones, which may well indicate the production of olive oil. This appears to be confirmed both by crushing basins set into the floors of nearby rooms and by the finding of specialized vessels like this one. Such double vessels are unusual, and must have had a particular function, though we do not know exactly how they were used.

J.N. Tubb, Canaanites (London, The British Museum Press, 1998)