Coarse Ware Cup with “Snail-Horn” Handle

Handmade cup in coarse ware ceramic; it features a flaring rim and a smooth handle terminating in a horn-shaped element (known as a “snail-horn” handle).

The cup was discovered at the site of Broglio di Trebisacce, a settlement founded around 1700 BC and inhabited until approximately the end of the 8th century BC. It forms part of the ceramic assemblage recovered from the so-called Central House—also known as the House of the Drinker—a large apsidal dwelling that may have belonged to a family of the local aristocracy.

Within the structure, four different tableware sets were identified, produced in three distinct ceramic traditions: two sets in gray ware, one in Italo-Mycenaean pottery (a local production imitating Mycenaean ceramics), and one in fine coarse ware. In particular, the two gray ware sets displayed a highly complex organization, comprising three groups of cups and bowls in three different sizes, probably intended for different uses. The Italo-Mycenaean set did not exactly replicate the same shapes as the gray ware ones; therefore, the sets were likely used together (for example, the Italo-Mycenaean amphora may have been used in combination with gray ware cups).

These four sets were probably not intended for everyday meals, but rather reserved for gatherings and convivial occasions of the local elite, during which the consumption of wine played an important role in strengthening social bonds.