The askos is the name given in modern parlance to a type of Greek pottery vessel used to pour small quantities of liquids such as oil. It is recognisable from its flat shape and a spout at one or both ends that could also be used as a handle; they were usually painted decoratively like vases and were mainly used for storing oil and refilling oil lamps. The ring askos is not a common shape in Apulia or elsewhere, but is widely distributed in time and space, from Mycenaean Greece to late-classical Italy. It is perhaps most common, however, in Archaic Asia Minor.
