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In order to have a better understanding of intercultural processes and, at the same time, to discuss our methodological models, this paper analyzes intercultural and political relations of Greek colonies of South Italy and Sicily. We give special emphasis on the nature and forms of reciprocal relations between Greek colonial contexts and the Natives. The first aspect of our paper consists in highlighting the nature of certain mixed dynamics in colonial encounters, “internal” as well as “external”. This can be viewed as a draft of the modes of elaboration of Greek identity in a colonial context. We also comment an example of “archaeology of encounter”. In this perspective, we analyze the archaeological evidence coming from some necropoleis of the territory of Poseidonia, dated to the period of Lucanian hegemony, i.e. from the end of 5th century to the first quarter of the 3rd century BCE.