A large ceramic tub, which was discovered and exhumed during the archaeological intervention in the space located under the Municipal Library of Silves, is now part of the permanent exhibition of the Municipal Museum of Archeology of Silves.
The ceramic tub, which measures about 55 centimeters in height and 85 centimeters in diameter, was removed intact from the intervention area, which would correspond to the eastern outskirts of the Islamic city.
The removal of the piece used, according to a note from the Silves Chamber, a «complex cooperation work between archaeologists and the contractor, as it was necessary to build a beam to support the adjoining house to the north, in order to be able to remove the object, such as document the photos».
This type of objects is considered «very rare in Portuguese territory, finding parallels in the city of Zamora (Spain)» and would be «associated with the tanning industry».
«It was the large amount of lime added to the inner walls of the container that led archaeologists to interpret its functionality», adds the note from the municipality.
It would serve to submerge the skins in it, so that the lime would attack what was left of the epidermis and subcutaneous tissue of the animals, at the same time as it increased and dilated the fibers of the dermis, preparing them to better absorb the tannin bath that followed them in the process of skin care.
"The object in question, the only one that we know completely intact, will have a chronology around the XNUMXth century and will be presented at a scientific meeting that will take place in the French city of Montpellier, as part of an International Congress on Large Ceramic Containers", reveals the Chamber of Silves.
"The study, conservation, enhancement and dissemination of our historical and archaeological heritage constitutes one of the Municipality's intervention strategies, in order to perpetuate our collective memory and also to develop other forms of tourist attraction for the region", concludes the press release.
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