Da Manduria al MAR di Castro: il cratere protolucano della Collezione 'Antonio Lazzari'

This paper presents, for the first time, a Proto-Lucanian bell-shaped crater belonged to the famous geologist Antonio Lazzari and currently exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Castro (Lecce). The vase comes, according to oral sources, from the Messapian settlement of Manduria. On the main side, there is a maenad with thyrsus between two silens; on the secondary side, three draped youths. For shape and decoration, the crater compares with the vessels made around 430 BC by the Amykos Painter, considered, according to various clues, a vase painter active in the potter’s quarter of Metaponto, discovered in the Seventies. In the contribution, the crater of Castro, as well as being analysed under the stylistic aspect, is presented in the wider context of the Proto-Lucanian imports in Messapia. The aim is to understand the contribution of this new interesting document to the discussion about the mechanisms regulating the acquisition of Greek figure pottery by the Messapian populations. The research developed by the Classical Archaeology sector of the University of Salento contributed to clarify this issue, highlighting the significant role of imported artefacts in the self-representation dynamics of the local aristocracies