Introduction: The Etruscans

The Etruscan civilization was an ancient culture in the area that now includes Tuscany, Western Umbria, and Northern Lazio. This civilization consisted of a federation of city-states with a common language and culture. At its peak, around 500 BC, the area extended to parts of the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, and Campania. The Etruscans developed from the Villanovan culture around 900 BC, an Iron Age phase that emerged from the late Bronze Age cultures descended from the Neolithic farmers and the Proto-Indo-European steppe herders.  

Around 3000 BC, during the early bronze Age, Indo-Europeans migrated to central and southern Europe. They mixed with local peoples, creating mixed cultures such as the Corded Ware culture. Along the lakes in Central Europe, the Terramare culture developed at the end of the Neolithic. From this emerged the Proto-Villanovan culture, later the Villanovan culture, and from peoples related to this, the Etruscans developed. 

The Villanovan culture (900–700 BC), considered the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, emerged from the Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture. The Villanovans traded metals and ceramics and had contacts with Sardinia.

From around 900 BC, there is evidence of various groups with their own languages, customs, and art. Between 800 and 400 BC, some groups became strong enough to form city-states. Their language descended from Indo-European Sabellic, influenced by Greek, Latin, and non-Indo-European Etruscan languages. 

• Umbrians: Lived north of present-day Perugia and were known for their deep religious beliefs.
• Sabines: Known for the legend of the abduction of their women by followers of Romulus, the founder of Rome.
• Samnites: A warlike people who nearly defeated the Romans.
• Falisci: Chose to voluntarily join the Romans instead of fighting.
• Marsians: Known for their skills in handling snakes and their herbal remedies.
• Piceni: Lived along the Adriatic coast and thrived thanks to trade with Greeks and Phoenicians.

Additionally, Greeks lived in Southern Italy and Sicily, while Celtic groups such as the Gauls settled in Northern Italy from around 500 BC.

In Italy, the transition to the Iron Age was gradual, unlike the sudden collapse of the Mycenaean civilization in Greece. Villanovan settlements were known for their cremation practices and biconical urns.

There is debate about the origin of the Villanova's. Some researchers view them as immigrants who introduced Indo-European languages, while others point to indigenous influences. In Latium and Etruria, they developed into the later Etruscan civilization.

The earliest culture recognized as Etruscan dates from around 900 BC and is linked to the Villanova culture, an early Iron Age culture that emerged from the late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe (Urnfield culture). The Etruscans differ from other Indo-European peoples because they did not speak an Indo-European language. 

Recent studies, including one published in Science Advances (2021), analyzed the entire genome of Etruscan individuals from the Iron Age and concluded that the Etruscans were indigenous to Central Italy, genetically similar to their Latin neighbors. Their DNA consisted of a mix of Western European hunter-gatherers (WHG), early European farmers (EEF), and Steppe ancestry.

Key findings from these studies include:

• Most Etruscan male individuals belong to haplogroup R1b (R1b-P312 and derivatives originating from the Steppe).
• Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the Etruscans showed haplogroups H, U5, and JT.
• No recent genetic influences from Anatolia or the eastern Mediterranean region.
• Genetic similarities between Etruscans and Neolithic populations from Central Europe and earlier inhabitants of Tuscany.

Although their origins were long a subject of debate, modern scholars agree that the Etruscans were largely a Proto-Indo-European people comparable to cultures from the same region. Their power and influence declined from the 4th century BC, when Rome began to expand. Eventually, the Etruscans were fully incorporated into the Roman Empire in 27 BC.

The Etruscans left about 13,000 inscriptions, of which only a small part is substantial from length. The Etruscan language is considered a Pre-Indo-European and Paleo-European language, belonging to the isolated Tyrrhenian language family, along with Rhaetian and Lemnian. The script was influenced by the Greek alphabet, especially through contact with Greek colonies in the 8th century BC. The oldest inscriptions date from around 700 BC, and the language remained in use until the 1st century AD.

 The Etruscan alphabet, derived from the Greek alphabet of Cumae, developed from 700 BC and spread across central and northern Italy. Early examples are found on artifacts such as the tablet of Marsiliana d’Albegna. The script had regional variants and evolved over the centuries. Important inscriptions and models show the use of a syllabic system for practice.

The Etruscans were known for their trade with Celts (from the Hallstatt culture) and Greeks, and their wealthy elites, who stored luxury goods in large family tombs. They built cities on elevated sites with fortified walls and developed a writing system based on the Euboean alphabet. Although their language is largely lost, we learn about them through Roman and Greek sources.

The Etruscans called themselves "Rasenna" and were known to the Greeks as "Tyrrhenians." The name "Tuscany" is derived from this. According to Roman and Greek legends, they were linguistically linked to other peoples such as the Pelasgians, but many historians believe they always lived in Italy. Their civilization was eventually displaced by Rome, but their influence on art, architecture, and religion endures.

Excavations reveal that the Etruscan civilization developed around 900 BC from the local Proto-Villanovan culture. From the late Bronze Age (13th-11th century BC), there is evidence of cultural continuity. The Villanovan culture, which emerged in the Iron Age, is seen as an early phase of the Etruscan civilization. Although there may have been contacts with the Mycenaean world at the end of the Bronze Age, archaeological findings suggest that this civilization primarily originated locally.

The Orientalizing period, during which Eastern influences became visible in art and culture, is often mistakenly linked to the origin of the Etruscans. However, archaeologists have shown that these influences resulted from contacts with Greek and Phoenician colonies in Southern Italy and Sardinia, and not from mass migration.

Early Etruscan art, such as frescoess in tombs, was often created by Greek or foreign artists. As a result, these works provide a limited view of the Etruscan population. Only from the 4th century BC did Etruscan portrait art become more realistic.

Around 770–730 BC, the Etruscans began to forge close ties with Greek colonists in Southern Italy, leading to cultural changes such as the introduction of writing, new burial rituals, and an aristocratic lifestyle. This period is called the Orientalizing phase, during which influences from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East were evident. Later, the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic phases followed, paralleling Greek history.

The Etruscans expanded into Northern Italy and Campania, partly due to their wealth from mining and metal trade. In the 6th century BC, they came into conflict with the Greeks, leading to an alliance with Carthage. After defeats by the Greeks in 474 BC (Battle of Cumae) and Rome in the 4th century BC, their power began to decline. Rome eventually conquered Etruria in the 3rd century BC, leading to full integration into the Roman Empire.

According to tradition, twelve Etruscan cities formed a league (the "Dodekapolis"), where they met annually at the sanctuary of Voltumna. Although the league was primarily economic and religious, it also had political influence.

The Etruscans played an important role in the early development of Rome. They introduced construction techniques and rituals, such as the construction of city walls and drainage systems. Some Roman kings, such as Tarquinius Superbus, were of Etruscan descent, and their cultural influence is reflected in symbols like the fasces and the toga.

Etruscan cities were independent and organized as city-states. The society was strongly hierarchical, with an emphasis on family and religion. Etruscan women had more freedom than in Greek and Roman cultures, which was often misunderstood as promiscuity.

Their religion was polytheistic, with gods such as Tinia (the sky), Uni (his wife), and Cel (the earth). Greek and Roman gods, such as Minerva and Diana, were often based on Etruscan predecessors. Architecture, agricultural techniques, and art reflect their advanced knowledge and connections with other cultures.

Although the Etruscan civilization was eventually absorbed by Rome, their cities, art, and traditions remain an important source of information about this unique culture. Archaeological findings in cities such as Tarquinia and Cerveteri testify to their rich heritage.