The Ausonian Pottery of Lipari (Aeolian Islands, Sicily) – a Typological and Petrological Assessment

Abstract

A petrographic analysis of 74 Ausonian (Late Bronze Age) sherds from the Acropolis of Lipari (Aeolian Islands, Sicily) was undertaken to ascertain whether they represent intrusive mainland Italian Subapenninian and Protovillanovan imports, as their typology might suggest, or were the products of an indigenous island economy. The sample included ‘impasto’ and painted pottery and was extended to include 15 Apenninian sherds from the preceding Milazzese cultural phase. The Acropolis has an almost unbroken stratified ceramic succession from the Middle Neolithic to the early historic period and the site is located in an island with a restricted, but well defined, volcanic geology. The petrographic evidence indicates that the Ausonian pottery is the product of the indigenous insular economy using both local and imported materials. This conclusion suggess that new ceramic forms were quickly transposed by the ‘native’ potters of Lipari to produce an indigenous ‘Subapenninian’ and ‘Protovillanovan’ range of wares.