Matera ware

Matera ware [Ar].
A type of middle Neolithic pottery found at many sites in southern Italy, notably the ditched villages of Murgecchia and Murgia Timone. Characteristically a dark burnished fabric represented as curved bowls and straight-necked jars, decorated with rectilinear geometric designs scratched into the walls after firing and filled with an inlay of red ochre. A quite different ware comprising a thin, buff-coloured pottery painted with broad bands of scarlet, is sometimes included within the range of Matera ware products.