Cylindrical Container in Black-Glazed Pottery

The small ceramic container (pyxis), found intact, features a short vertical rim, a rounded body, and a ring foot. The black glaze that originally covered the vessel uniformly now appears faded.

Pyxides are small containers, generally provided with a lid, used in antiquity to store personal items such as ointments, perfumes, cosmetics, jewelry, or other small valuable objects. They could be made from various materials, including ceramic, metal, and more rarely ivory, and often display refined decoration. Ceramic examples, such as this one, were widespread in the Greek world and among indigenous communities of southern Italy, where they frequently appear in funerary assemblages, especially those of women. Their presence in female burials attests to the strong association of these objects with adornment, personal care, and individual identity, as well as with ritual and symbolic practices connected to the passage into the afterlife.