Ceramic Fragment with “Tent” Decoration

The ceramic fragment is decorated with a “tent” motif, framed by bands of horizontal lines, all painted in matte brown on a light background.

Enotrian geometric pottery is widespread in Basilicata, northern Calabria, and inland southern Campania between the 9th and 8th centuries BC (Early Iron Age). The “tent” decorative motif is one of the most distinctive elements of its repertoire: it is painted in matte brown on the light surface of the vessel and consists of bands of oblique lines converging toward an upper point. From this characteristic shape, which visually recalls a stylized tent, the motif takes its name. The fragment was found in the Santo Cavalcatore ravine, at the foot of Rione Vecchio. It probably fell to the place of discovery as a result of the collapse of part of the Rione Vecchio cliff, where a protohistoric settlement once stood (c. 1600–700 BC).