In addition to the two best-known types of pottery from central and southern Italy, broad line (7th-10th centuries) and narrow line (perhaps starting from the 9th century), the new finds at Mesagne and Brindisi have produced a third type, bird pottery. This pottery has a red or orange-red fabric with clear surface, generally without inclusions but at times with large, widely spaced, white inclusions causing firing defects. The principal forms are the amphora, the basin, and more rarely, the jug. The decoration is in colors ranging from rust red to very dark grey and consists of a subsidiary design beside the main decorative design, which may be figurative or geometric; typical are the fluttering birds, always depicted in profile, usually two in number, facing each other, next to a fishbone-shaped stylized tree. It appears to be very common all over Apulia, particularly in the Salento area, but not quite so common in Basilicata. It dates from between the first half of the 14th century to the end of the 16th century. Its origins are in narrow line pottery, as the forms and certain decorative patterns (spirals, small arches, pendants) show. -- AATA