Black-Gloss Ware Produced in the Etruscan City of Spina During the Hellenistic Period. A Preliminary Report from the Valle Trebba Necropolis

The cemeteries of Spina and Adria, two Etruscan harbors of the Po Delta, provide an incred- ible body of material for study. Among these materials, a primary role certainly belongs to the black-gloss ware. In this contribution, we discuss the black-gloss ware of the Hellenistic peri- od produced in Spina as a study case. We also try to outline some of the main issues related to this specific class, starting with the vessels from the Valle Trebba necropolis. A massive and organized production of black-gloss ware in Spina began during the second half of the 4th cen- tury BCE, probably within the last decades of the century. The main shapes are derived from models of imported vases (i.e. northern Etruscan and Attic classes). As was to be expected from a production that was not widely traded beyond the territory of Spina, there are several levels of standardization. These levels could be at least partly dependent on the different cul- tural and ideological values of each shape.