Colección de botijas y botijuelas ("Spanish Oliver Jar" o "anforetas") procedentes de la ermita de San José (Elorrio, Bizkaia)

Abstract

This work is the study of severa! pottery items from the hermitage os Saint Joseph (Elorrio, Bizkaia) that form the most important set of these characteristics discovered until nowadays in the Basque Country.Known in the Anglosaxon bibliography as "Spanish olive jars" and in the Spanish one as "anforetas" o "anforiñas" have been being located in a wida chronological range that goes from the XVIth. century to, at least, the XVIIIth. century, being also questioned about their uses. This article propases their denomination as they are know in the contemporary records -"botijas" and "botijuelas"- defends their use for severa! purposes -in this case to be used as part of the drainage system underneath a rural hermitage- and tries to give a chronological approach that, in this particular case, has to be around the first half of the XVIIlth. century and, in any case, previous to 1772, when the hermitage was rebuilt.