MESSAPIAN LEKANE Messapian culture, second half 4th century AD. Pinkish clay. Red and purplish paint. Everted oblique lip marked by eight outer tongues. Deep bowl with a keeled profile. Decoration with concentric lines of alternating colours. Width: 150 mm. Height: 42 mm. Intact, minor damages. The Messapian culture is one of the Italic cultures, along with the Daunian, Peucetian and Japigian cultures (although some ancient sources refer to the Messapians and the Japigi as being the same), that inhabited Apulia since protohistoric times. The typical vascular form of this culture is the so-called 'trozzella', a kind of amphora with raised handles, which remained almost unchanged for many centuries. Another characteristic form is the presence of these lekanis with the lip divided into several segments.