An important legacy of Early Italic cultures is the distinctive handmade painted pottery of Apulia in southern Italy. Greek-style painted pottery also appeared from about 400 BC, influenced by wheelmade products of neighbouring Greek colonists. But specific purely indigenous types continued to be made until the time of Roman conquest around 300 BC.

The Xenon Group is wheelmade and neither fully Greek nor fully local. The vases were decorated with an applied colour over a shiny black slip. Only one colour, usually a matte pinkish red, was applied. The motifs decorating the pots included laurels, waves, ivy scrolls, chevrons, and meanders. All were less refined than Greek renderings.