The Wooden Barrel In Global Trade 
A History from the 1400s to the Present

As widely-used containers, following the several thousand-year reign of the terracotta amphorae, wooden barrels and casks became the most utilized bulk packages throughout the Western world. The barrels were developed during the Roman era, most likely by Celtic craftsmen. But their importance became evident, and their heyday commenced in the late Middle Ages as the European explorers ventured forth during the Age of Discovery. The barrels' unique attributes secured those traveller’s foods and liquids, their shipboard repair supplies, and their trade goods. The Wooden Barrel in Global Trade: From the 1400s to the Present explores the how’s and whys of the barrel’s critical role over the past 600 years. 

 

Brewers and vintners were the first to utilize wooden barrels.  Not only could barrels contain significant quantities of beer and wine, but they also allowed relatively easy movement by the rolling of those containers of liquids from where they were made to where they were consumed. Premium wines and related spirits are still aged in oak barrels.

 

Before the age of refrigeration, salting and fermenting were utilized to preserve foods. As adaptable and convenient containers, barrels became the receptacles for salted or brined fish and meats, fermented vegetables, and dry grains and biscuits. 

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Some materials required simply a large container, while others needed protection from moisture, pests, or pilferage. Nails and candles needed only a package. Gunpowder and cement needed to be kept dry. Honey, butter, and tobacco were secure from insects. Barrels kept whale oil secure during the long sea voyages from the far oceans to the ports where it was sold and utilized. And trade goods, such as coins, axe heads, or crockery, packed in straw, were safely contained within barrels. 

Crude oil was initially shipped in barrels. The unit, a barrel of oil, still exists in our lexicon. For naval stores, the pine resins and tars used to repair ships, barrels were the primary container.

This book surveys the use of the barrel for these and other commodities through the analysis by marine archaeologists of the barrels found on shipwrecks, historical documentation, and current academic research. Additionally, with the author’s vocation as a wine and whiskey barrel cooper and research done while travelling to the world’s wine regions and ancient sites, insightful commentary compares the details of yesteryear’s barrels to the wooden casks used today. Describing not only the physical attributes of the numerous barrels for the particular commodity, the narration examines the people, cultural, and political environments in which the casks were being utilized. To add depth to the book, there are historic photographs, drawings, paintings, diagrams, and maps, and it includes an index and reference section.