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June 2011, Featured Articles, Discoveries

New Light on an Etruscan Settlement: Marsiliana d'Albegna

Thu, Jun 09, 2011

Excavations in Italy are uncovering finds that are expanding our knowledge of who the ancient Etruscans were and how they lived.

By Duccio Calamandrei, Sara de Sanctis, Lorella Molinaro, Aidan Mulkerrin, Silvia Pallecchi, Elena Santoro

It could be said that before Rome, there were the Etruscans (or Rasenna, as they called themselves). Occupying the land area on the ancient Italian peninsula roughly corresponding to present day Tuscany, they built and sustained a civilization of city-states that, for a time, commanded the commerce and political doings of Rome herself. Indeed, Etruscan art and architecture left its influential mark on Roman culture long after the Etruscans were assimilated into the Roman Republic in the 1st century B.C.  Enriched early on by production and commerce in copper and iron, they became a powerful presence among their neighboring civilizations. Who were they and where did they come from? The books are still being written about them. Much of what we are learning about them today comes from the recovery and analysis of grave goods and tomb findings through archaeological investigations. The research currently being conducted by Etruria Nova is playing a major role in these investigations and shedding new light on daily life and death among the ancient Etruscans........... 


A map showing the extent of Etruria (the name given to the area occupied by the early Etruscans) and the Etruscan civilization. The map includes the 12 cities of the Etruscan League and notable cities founded by the Etruscans. Photo courtesy Norman Einstein. Wikimedia Commons


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