During the 17th and 18th century, wine bottles were generally manufactured out of dark olive green glass – so dark, in fact, that it often looks black at first glance. This color was chosen intentionally to block sunlight and better preserve the bottles’ contents. Although most commonly used for wine, these dark green glass bottles also contained rum and other liquors. Characteristic changes in the shape of English wine bottles throughout this period make them relatively dateable artifacts; however, at Colonial Dorchester most of the wine bottle glass we recover is in small-to-medium sized shards with no real indication of overall shape. Dark olive green, wine bottle glass has been found in nearly every context at Dorchester.