The Etruscans
Intro
The origin of the Etruscans has been a subject of debate in historical contexts for centuries. Sources from both contemporary and ancient writings have accounted the civilisations emergence from areas such as Italy, Asia Minor and even Greece. While each account has validity, a careful study of the evidence reveals that the Etruscans most likely emerged from within Italy
Body
Section 1- Development of the Etruscan Civilisation
In Ancient times the Etruscans were known has the predecessors of their own civilisation, and were Autochthonous. The Etruscans started to place themselves in the northern regions at the time of the 7th Century BC. Hesiod mentioned the first earliest account of the Etruscan civilisation in the “Theogony”. Ancient
writers still debated on whether the Etruscans were actually Autochthonous or from Asia Minor.
By the 5th Century BC, Etruscan power was challenged and severely curtailed. By the middle of the 7th Century BC many Etruscans towns had been developed and an Etruscan culture was created on the peninsula of Italy. The Etruscan civilisation was dominated by aristocracy, which had strict control over the aspects of people’s lives that were political, military, economic and religious.
Section 2- Archaeological influences and finds
The origin of the Etruscan Civilisation has also been greatly assessed by many Archaeological influences and finds. These finds have helped to provide evidence on where the Etruscans originally came from. Archaeologists have agreed that the Etruscans originally settled on the region of Tuscany in Italy.
Most Archaeologists concluded that the Etruscans came from a region in Asia Minor, as Herodotus supposed. The archaeological record provide strong evidence that support the view that the Etruscan Civilisation emerged from Dardanelles in Asia Minor. Evidence of Etruscan tombs, objects and wall paintings, tells us what we know about their society. In Etruscan cemeteries the successive type of tomb appear to develop out of each other in a continuous series, and the style of the furniture exhibits a similar unbroken progression.
The problem of finding the Etruscans true origin still remains, despite the examinations of skulls and bones by Anthropologists, and blood groups by medical biological.
Section 3- Language and Culture
There was a remarkable difference of the language and culture of Etruscans compared with the Italians at that time. As a result, in the 12th century BC, Herodotus’s view of the Etruscans migrating to Italy from Lydia to escape a severe famine, was upheld by many scholars. The Greek Historian Dionysius stated in the 1st Century BC that the Etruscan language was like any other, and translation of the remaining fragments was difficult. The Etruscan language was identified by many scholars as very distinctive from the Indo European family of languages.
A tomb of a warrior in Aegean, had an inscription that has links with both Etruscans and with tongues of Asia Minor, stating that the Etruscan language could be similar to that of Asia minor.
The origin of the Etruscans has been a subject of debate in historical contexts for centuries. Sources from both contemporary and ancient writings have accounted the civilisations emergence from areas such as Italy, Asia Minor and even Greece. While each account has validity, a careful study of the evidence reveals that the Etruscans most likely emerged from within Italy
Body
Section 1- Development of the Etruscan Civilisation
In Ancient times the Etruscans were known has the predecessors of their own civilisation, and were Autochthonous. The Etruscans started to place themselves in the northern regions at the time of the 7th Century BC. Hesiod mentioned the first earliest account of the Etruscan civilisation in the “Theogony”. Ancient
writers still debated on whether the Etruscans were actually Autochthonous or from Asia Minor.
By the 5th Century BC, Etruscan power was challenged and severely curtailed. By the middle of the 7th Century BC many Etruscans towns had been developed and an Etruscan culture was created on the peninsula of Italy. The Etruscan civilisation was dominated by aristocracy, which had strict control over the aspects of people’s lives that were political, military, economic and religious.
Section 2- Archaeological influences and finds
The origin of the Etruscan Civilisation has also been greatly assessed by many Archaeological influences and finds. These finds have helped to provide evidence on where the Etruscans originally came from. Archaeologists have agreed that the Etruscans originally settled on the region of Tuscany in Italy.
Most Archaeologists concluded that the Etruscans came from a region in Asia Minor, as Herodotus supposed. The archaeological record provide strong evidence that support the view that the Etruscan Civilisation emerged from Dardanelles in Asia Minor. Evidence of Etruscan tombs, objects and wall paintings, tells us what we know about their society. In Etruscan cemeteries the successive type of tomb appear to develop out of each other in a continuous series, and the style of the furniture exhibits a similar unbroken progression.
The problem of finding the Etruscans true origin still remains, despite the examinations of skulls and bones by Anthropologists, and blood groups by medical biological.
Section 3- Language and Culture
There was a remarkable difference of the language and culture of Etruscans compared with the Italians at that time. As a result, in the 12th century BC, Herodotus’s view of the Etruscans migrating to Italy from Lydia to escape a severe famine, was upheld by many scholars. The Greek Historian Dionysius stated in the 1st Century BC that the Etruscan language was like any other, and translation of the remaining fragments was difficult. The Etruscan language was identified by many scholars as very distinctive from the Indo European family of languages.
A tomb of a warrior in Aegean, had an inscription that has links with both Etruscans and with tongues of Asia Minor, stating that the Etruscan language could be similar to that of Asia minor.