Sporadic Minoan trade with Sicily and southern Italy occurred in the 16th century BC; Italian contacts greatly increased when Mycenaean trade expanded after about 1400.
Abundant Mycenaean pottery has been recovered from southern Italy, Sicily, Malta and Sardinia, where more than 100 vessels were found in the Nuraghe Antigori. Most common were the small elegant vessels used to transport perfumed oils, widely used in the ancient world.
The Italians also made their own imitations of Aegean pottery and Mycenaean figurines. Sardinia was an important source of copper, which was made into the oxhide shaped ingots familiar from Cyprus and West Asia. The technology of metalworking and the forms of objects made show that the Cypriots had been influential in the development of Sardinia's industry.
Trade with the central Mediterranean greatly increased in the 13th century BC, when troubles in West Asia turned Mycenaean and Cypriot trading attentions westwards.
