Fragment of the Neck of an Italo-Geometric Ceramic Jug

This fragment corresponds to the neck of a jug, that is, the upper part of the vessel from which liquids were poured. It has a truncated-conical shape with a wide, flaring rim. The surface is decorated with geometric motifs such as solid triangles and rosettes made of dotted impressions, in a style typical of Italo-Geometric pottery.

In the 7th century BC, the San Nicola plateau began to be occupied more permanently. This is attested above all by the earliest ceramic fragments, such as this example. Although the vessel was not found intact, the geometric decorations preserved on the fragment allow it to be attributed to Italo-Geometric pottery, a type of production widespread in southern Italy between the 9th and 7th centuries BC. This ceramic class is characteristic of the settlements of indigenous populations inhabiting the region prior to Greek colonization. Its presence at Amendolara therefore indicates that the settlement of San Nicola was already active before the full urbanization of the 6th century BC. The evidence gathered from the very rich 7th-century BC burials of the Amendolara necropoleis (Paladino Ovest and Mangosa) further complements the information available about the San Nicola center—an поселment that, over the course of this century, underwent a phase of cultural and social consolidation, laying the groundwork for the subsequent urban organization of the 6th century BC.