Description

SCW36 consist of 13 staves, two hoops, which survive in a very fragmentary state, a lower head and one stave of the upper Head

The diameter of the casks head is 367mm, with a height of c.500mm giving an approximate capacity of 60 litres if treated as a cylinder with a 6.5% volume added.  This would give a total volume of approximately two ‘Kinnetje’ (27.9l) this is approximately one quarter of an okshoofd, (hogshead) (227l).

There were no universal standards in seventeenth century Dutch measurement which varied depending on the cargo and locality.  The lack of a bung stave suggests that the barrel may have been used to contain dry goods by weight or quantity rather than volume.

SCW36 was found near complete with its head collapsed into the body the walls of the barrels were lined with black sediment [SCW700] and contained the remains of Prunus domestica [SCW728].