Relations between different regions of Anatolia and Etruria show main movements from east to west, but they also reveal some objects going the other way, from west to east. Exchange was made in several ways, including trade in goods and substances as well as immigration of skilled workers. The idea of a monumental funerary landscape developed in Etruria, probably influenced by North Syria or Anatolia. Tomb- and vase-painting show intense East Greek activity in Etruria, and East Greeks returning home brought goods from Etruria and gifted them as votive offerings to divinities: Bucchero – the national Etruscan pottery – has been found at Miletus and Samos, and Etruscan wine amphoras have been found at Miletus and Phocaea. Through East Greek cities (especially Miletus), Etruscan bucchero also arrived at the northern Black Sea coast. Such imports show that Etruscan goods were appreciated in East Greece and that some reflections of their knowledge may be identified in Greek and non-Greek handcraft. In Anatolia Etruscans also had connections with other non-Greek peoples, such as Lydians, and Lydian imports are known in Etruria.

The word “bucchero,” most commonly used to describe the black ceramics produced in Etruria, began to be used for pottery made elsewhere in the Mediterranean that relied upon the same technology – an oxygen-reducing kiln environment to achieve a firing that is dark through the biscuit and requires no slip or glaze. This chapter questions whether the term “bucchero” was ever used for ceramics from Anatolia in order to support Herodotus’ claim that the Etruscans were immigrants from Lydia. An examination of literature from the early twentieth century through today reveals that bucchero is understood as a “national” pottery for the Etruscans but is not a defining ceramic for any other culture. Therefore, while “bucchero” is used in a variety of contexts, it is indelibly linked with Central Italy. Over time, publications gradually shifted toward using “bucchero” only for Etruscan ceramics and “grey ware” for East Greek material, at times explicitly rejecting the use of the word for anything other than Etruscan material. Instead of uniting ancient cultures or demonstrating influence through shared ceramic technology, this term became a way to separate them.