Before the Romans, Italy was a rich mosaic of tribes and cultures, as well as Greek settlers who dominated the south of the country. Perhaps the most famous of these cultures was the Etruscans, who vied with the early Romans for control of Latium and Etruria. Less well-known, the Daunians lived, suitably enough, in the region of Daunia, in central Southern Italy. But while they were geographically close to the Greeks who had settled in Magna Graecia (Sicily and South Italy), they were physically distant, sequestered in the mountains that run down the spine of Italy. As a result, the Daunians were less influenced by the dominant Greek culture than their regional neighbours, and instead developed a rich society of their own, with a unique artistic output. Some have considered this output somewhat backwards-looking, since the Daunians progressed through the ‘stages’ of Classical Civilisation much slower than the Greeks. But seen in their own context, the Daunians were imaginative and accomplished artists, the richness of whose visual culture has only recently been recognised.

Olla is the name given to a pottery shape with a deep round belly, truncated shoulders, and a flared rim. It probably originated as a cooking vessel, designed to retain the heat and to distribute it around the belly of the vessel via convection. However, the shape developed, with the addition of handles which would not have been useful for a cooking pot. Among the early Italic tribes, the olla obtained a ritual function, as a cremation urn. The earliest example of such a use is found in a Seventh Century BC cemetery at Civita Castillana, north of Rome. Another ritual function was in the distribution of sacrificial remains. Once an animal had been sacrificed at the altar, it was traditional to share the meat out between the participants. To ensure that nobody got a better cut of meat than his neighbour, it was customary to boil the meat, in a pot such as an olla. This highly-decorated olla was certainly not destined for use on the fire. The time, effort, and expense put into its polychrome surface is a clear indicator that this was a tomb piece. It is possible that it was a cremation urn, but it is more likely that it was part of a wider tomb assemblage. Decorated versions of the more mundane pottery of daily life were an appropriate gift to the deceased, who would need to cook and eat in the afterlife.

The surface of this olla is decorated in the style known as Sub-Geometric, which dates it to an early period of the development of Daunian pottery. The Sub-Geometric period is characterised by semi-repeated geometric patterns which fill the surface space of the vessel. The polychromy of the pot’s decoration is characteristic of the Daunians; Greeks and Etruscans favoured monochrome patterns in black. A structural abstract pattern around the base of the vase rises to a series of red ‘garlands’, with repeated black outlines, which repeat in an overlapping pattern around the underside of the belly. The shoulder has red and black diamond, criss-cross, and stripe patterns. Diamonds with crosses fill the top register also, with black and red stripes demarcating the lower part of the fluted rim. The survival of the paint in such good condition is remarkable, and indicates the likelihood that this piece was sealed in a tomb for most of its history.