Closures: History

Cork was certainly known in Ancient greece, where, as in Ancient egypt, great care was taken to provide amphorae with a wide variety of airtight stoppers. Roman authors such as cato, writing in the 2nd century bc, refer to the need to seal jars with cork and pitch when the fermentation was complete. However, this use of cork does not appear to have continued into the early medieval period, possibly because the main potential supply of European cork was in southern Iberia, which had been conquered by the Moors in the 8th century. Medieval illuminations illustrate barrels generally sealed by wooden stoppers, with cloth frequently placed between the barrel and the stopper to provide a more airtight seal. Pitch and wax were also sometimes used to provide additional protection. In the long period during which wine was mainly stored in and served from the barrel, the most common stopper was some form of bung.