ABSTRACT
The glass bottles and tableware from three VOC sites at the Cape include collections from two locales at the Castle of Good Hope, namely the Van der Stel Moat and the Old Granary, as well one at the VOC outpost at Oudepost I. All glass in the VOC Cape sites was imported from Europe, and findings may therefore be integrated into the wider sphere of glass production during the 17th-18th centuries that reflects a link between the Netherlands and its European neighbors. Archaeologically dated collections from shipwrecks, pits, and garbage and a particularly rich collection from a cesspool of a Dutch tavern provide good chronological markers for our VOC collections at the Cape. The analysis of glass from three VOC sites at the Cape reveals the practices of the VOC settlement in the late 17th-early 18th century regarding trade, liquor consumption, and drinking behavior.
