[H] __[L] __[W] __[Th] __[Diam] __[Wt] __[Caliber] __[Nail Size] __[Notes]Approx. maximum length of shards: (a) 2.5cm; (b) 3.4cm; (c) 4.6cm; (d) 4.0cm; (e) 5.0cm; (f) 4.9cm; (g) 7.5cm; (h) 6.8cm; (i) 6.2cm
A broken soft drink bottle, consisting of shards that have been re adhered together make up the neck, shoulders, and partial body. The shards are various sizes and several have very small, round curves, suggesting the shape of a circular neck, and the larger shards have a wider curve, suggesting the shape of sloped down shoulders and a cylindrical body. The bottle is blue coloured glass and many surfaces appear iridescent. Many of the shards have visible cracks in their surface and some appear to have an opaque residue in some spots. The largest shard has partial embossed lettering that reads "M...", followed by an indiscernible partial letter. The lettering would have been centered on the body of the bottle. One shard from the neck portion remains a complete ring shape, revealing that the neck diameter was approximately 2.5cm.
Although incomplete, the shape and colour of these shards strongly suggests that the original vessel was a soda bottle. Due to soda’s carbonation, bottles had to have thicker glass that could withstand the gaseous pressure. The cylindrical shape was predominantly used due to its consistent, even and round nature being stronger than other shapes. Blue coloured glass became popular for soda bottles in the mid 19th century, introduced around 1845 by Eugene Roussel, the first to use cobalt blue in his soda bottles to stand out amongst competitors. Blue glass is made by adding cobalt oxide to the glass and can create various shades. Darker blues are described as cobalt blue and lighter blues as sapphire blue, but name variations and subclassifications are also frequently used.
