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This chapter explores the problem of how we should interpret the material culture of the early apoikoi in the light of broad-brush questions relating to identity and ethnicity. Using the data from archaeological excavations in Eastern Sicily, it examines whether different communities did in fact use different vessel forms. It then challenges received views regarding the degree to which these uses had any bearing upon the sense of collective identity or ethnicity to which the various protagonists in the phenomenon commonly referred to as ‘Greek colonisation’ subscribed. There are many angles and points of departure for addressing these issues when discussing both the expansion and development of the apoikiai, for example, the intertwined strategies for social self-differentiation or the nature of the ancient economy, trade and exchange. It is suggested, contrary to popular opinion, that associations with specific metropoleis were only set up gradually over time. Material culture is ultimately conceived as being variegated from the outset, in stark contrast with mainstream narratives that characterise its evolution in terms of hybridization and cross-breeding.