Anatomy of a Bottle

Bottle Morphology

Bill Lindsey, a retired Bureau of Land Management employee has dedicated 14 years to developing his invaluable site, Historic Glass Bottle Identification and Information Website, now in its permanent home under the Society of Historical Archeology (SHA).

Mr. Lindsey notes, “There exists a lot of variation in the terminology used by various authors to describe the physical features of bottles.” His bottle morphology (general physical attributes) image is a must-have for the standard terms for the parts of a bottle.

The image is a composite of many sources, but serves as a great basis for identification of sea and beach glass, as the vast majority of the glass we find on the beaches will have come from a bottle. Certain colors of beachcombed glass—green, white, brown—will in fact have as much as a 90-95% chance of having originated as a bottle.

Learn more about bottles

Learn more about identifying bottles by shape and color, the history of bottle manufacturing, stoppers, marbles, and more. Articles ›

Learn how to identify your antique glass bottles

This article appeared in the Glassing Magazine July 2017 issue.