dolium, a large earthenware vessel used in the Ancient Roman period. Sometimes with a capacity of several thousand litres, they were often partly buried in the floor of a barn to act as a fermentation vessel and provide storage for wine until it was transferred to amphorae. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a number of Roman wrecks were discovered off the south coast of France in which the cargo space was largely taken up by up to 14 dolia, thus creating the ancient equivalent of a tanker for the transport of wine in bulk.
