Daunian kyathos: A 2,700-year-old ceramic cup from Italy decorated with an exuberant-looking, bug-eyed fellow
An ancient ceramic vessel, possibly a wine ladle, from southern Italy.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
QUICK FACTS
Name: Daunian Kyathos
What is this : A single-handled painted ceramic cup or ladle
Where does it come from: Foggia, Italy
When it was made: 6th century BC
Archaeologists excavated the Daunian town of Herdonia, in today’s Foggia province, for four decades and found that the town was one of the main places where Daunian potters produced “extraordinary” vessels “that are among the finest products of pre-Roman Italian ceramics.” reported.
The Daunians’ unusual style of ceramic decoration can be seen in their version of the single-handled cup that art historians call kyathos. The base is a small rimmed plate about 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) in diameter, and a human figure with arms raised and eyes wide open has been attached to the side as a handle. The figure is decorated with geometric patterns and a stylized figure resembling a bird sits in the middle of the base. This kyathos was found in Herdonia and is part of the collection of Civic Museum of Foggia.
A certain number of Daunian ceramics are also preserved at the Herdonia Archaeological Museumwhose logo includes a kyathos similar to a human hand, as well as in the international collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and British Museum in London.
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Although the exact purpose of the Daunian kyathos is unknown, there are two main ideas. The first is that it was used as a wine ladle. The ancient Greeks used a vessel called kyathoswhich was a cup with a high vertical handle, to be dipped in wine containers and mixed with water at parties. But the Daunian examples slightly predate the common use of kyathos in Greece and resemble a bowl more than a cup, so it is unclear whether they served the same function.
A second hypothesis is that many Daunian ceramics were used in religious and curative contexts. In a 2023 search studyScientists tested a series of Daunian ceramics and detected opium alkaloids in most of them, supporting the idea that some vessels were used to create opium mixtures, perhaps to induce religious trances or to help relieve pain. It is, however, unclear whether the distinctive appearance of Daunian ceramics can be explained by the consumption of opiates.
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