DNA and Etruscan identity

From the time of Herodotus, who suggested that the Etruscans were immigrants to Italy, to the present day, the origin of the Etruscans has been debated. Since the mid-twentieth century a convincing academic consensus has been built that the Etruscans were an autochthonous people. The development of molecular archaeology, investigating ancient biological molecules, particularly DNA, has brought new evidence to the debate. This area is still developing and many of its findings are experimental or provisional

The landscape and environment of Etruria

Etruria, homeland of the Etruscans, lies on the western coast of Italy to the north of Rome between the Tiber and the Arno rivers. This hilly region is defined by its low-lying coast and the rugged Apennine mountains to the north and east. Since the Etruscan period the sea level is little changed but there has been significant soil erosion modifying the hills and valleys. The climate in the Etruscan period was similar to today's but human action has modified the vegetation cover. To conclude, the major landscape zones of Etruria are briefly described

The Origin of Tomb Painting in Etruria

Tomb paintings and other artistic categories such as stone sculpture had their origin in Etruria in the second quarter of the 7th century BC, when local elites received goods and customs from several regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. Near Eastern and Greek craftsmen migrated to Etruria from at least the end of 8th century BC and influenced the style of Etruscan art, which also developed from local Iron Age roots. The earliest paintings are concentrated in Veii and Caere in Southern Etruria, where they were used to emphasize architectural elements and to depict animals, perhaps with a symbolic meaning

Etruscan Settlement, Society and Material Culture in Central Coastal Etruria

This volume includes a description, and the results, of a field survey in the Albegna Valley and Ager Cosanus area of southern Tuscany, focusing on evidence from the first millennium BC. Philip Perkins describes the methodology, aims and GIS approaches to the field study and then presents the evidence in terms of the Etruscan settlement patterns, burials, farming and subsistence, ceramic evidence, finally reconstructing a population and economic history for the study area. The survey project has revealed a highly organised and hierarchical settlement pattern in the Etruscan period, with an evolving and diversifying agricultural system

Nuove tecnologie del sé: il banchetto rituale collettivo in Etruria

The aim of this article is to analyze ritualized practices of drinking and eating in Etruria during the seventh century BC through the study of aselection of tomb groups. I will consider these activities as new practices of consumption that élite groups introduced in burial ritual during the Orientalising period and that underlie a specific use of the body and of alimentary technologies. Attention will be devoted towards specific classes of banqueting and drinking objects, including metal vessels which point to the consumption of solid food, namely meat, together with wine, and therefore to the practice of meat sacrifice, and the relationship of sacrifice with the incineration of the deceased’s body in the context ofinhumation rituals

Reflections on the Use of the Iliupersis Motive in Livy’s Narrative of the Fall of Veii

El trabajo pretende contribuir al estudio de la alusión explícita al paralelo de la caída de Troya con la caída de Veyos en la narración titoliviana. Con el fin de complejizar el análisis de la cuestión, que últimamente ha sido pensado, principalmente, en un marco literario, la propuesta aquí es considerar, además de lo anterior, datos que exceden dicho marco, para lograr una comprensión más completa de las razones por las que Tito Livio juega con ese paralelo en este episodio.The paper pretends to contribute to the study of the explicit allusion to the parallel of the fall of Troy with the fall of Veii in Livy’s narrative. With the goal of making the analysis of the issue more complex, which lately has been thought, mainly, in a literary framework, the proposal here is to consider, besides the previous approach, information that surpasses the aforesaid framework, so as to achieve a more complex understanding of the reasons why Livy uses the referred parallel in this episode.Fil: Moreno, Agustín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad; Argentin