The Etruscans

The Etruscans have long been a rich source of research and intellectual inquiry as the most significant ethnic group who resided in ancient Etruria, current-day Tuscany and Umbria in Italy. A well-defined polity, the Etruscans were an advanced people whose presence on the Italian peninsula from the 8th to 4th century B.C. had an enormous impact on Roman culture, whose rise of power saw the collapse of Etruscan civilization. This book is extensive in its scope; it traces the rise of the Etruscans at the end of the Bronze Age; examines the economic structure of the society; explores the emergence of a powerful aristocracy in the period from 750-650 B.C.; and considers the religious and cultural life of the group. This knowledge has largely been gleaned from a wealth of monuments and material culture which the Etruscans left behind including architecture (the various forms of which indicate familial structure and socio-economic standing, not to mention the larger social structure of Etruscan society) and applied arts, such as bronze objects for both ceremonial use and everyday life, which were produced by an artisan class for a wealthy and demanding aristocracy.