ABSTRACT
Unlike the ceramic amphorae, pots and jars, but like the animal hide sacks, finding the remains of ancient, organic wooden barrels is extremely difficult. The oldest barrel remains found so far, dated to the first century bce, have been located along the major river ways and sea ports in what are now Germany, Belgium and France. With the origins of wooden barrels still in the realm of pure speculation, one archaeologist has certainly narrowed the options. It is fairly evident that wooden barrels evolved from wooden tanks and pails. Wooden buckets and tubs — those wooden containers with straight sides — have been in use for many millennia. Shipbuilding and barrels went hand in hand; the woods used in their fabrication, the technology and tools which crafted the final products, and the barrels containing the supplies for the long-range voyages of discovery.
