Distinctive ceramic forms in southern italy during eba-mba: formal taxonomy and functional hypotheses

In Southern Italy, during the EBA-MBA, the presence of some characteristic and singular ceramic forms is quite evident: vases with different types of internal support and with internal dividers; the so-called “hourglass” vases and the Aeolian “fruit bowls” are the main ones, although not the only ones. These forms can be found mainly, but not exclusively, in residential contexts. In some cases, in association with these forms, there are also distinctive non-vascular elements or objects in stone and animal hard materials as well as the widespread presence of miniature vases from even ritual and necropolis contexts. The strong distinctiveness of these ceramic objects has, in some cases, discouraged a more restricted typological classification based on formal differences, while it has more easily proposed generic but not definitive functional hypotheses. The diffusion of these forms in other contemporary Mediterranean contexts inspires a more careful and detailed reflection. In this paper we will try to tackle the problem with a harsher taxonomic approach on formal differences, by associating the materials not only with the reference contexts but also with the other non-ceramic elements and with the (few) analyses carried out.