Etruscan Bucchero Pottery in the Northern Black Sea Littoral

Abstract

Three Etruscan bucchero kantharoi have recently been found in the North Pontic settlements at modern-day Berezan island (ancient Borysthenes), and Taganrog (ancient Kremnoi), both Milesian foundations of the 7th century BC. Both centres yielded several vessels of Greek pottery dated from the early 7th century onwards. As the only finds of Etruscan bucchero in the Northern Black Sea area, the kantharoi are noteworthy. Miletus founded several colonies in the Black Sea and yielded the largest collection of Etruscan bucchero pottery in the eastern Mediterranean, suggesting it may have played the role of a distribution centre for these goods to the North Pontic area.