Professional Documents
Culture Documents
peoples.
1. When and where did the Etruscans exist?
The Etruscans were Rome's neighbors to the North.
There is sufficient archeological evidence in Tuscany, the westcentral area of Italy, about the presence of settlers coming from
Central Europe from about 1000 years b.c., and living in the area of
Vilanova, called Vilanovans by the archeologist Pericle Ducati.
Some interesting archeological places in the area are:
.- Cerveteri whre you can find the Regolini Galassi tomb
.- Tarquinia, particularly known for the beautiful painting in its
tombs. One of them is the Carderelli tomb.
.-Travederi (Caere), Vae and others.
This metal-rich area, located to the north of Latium populated by
latins, was exploited by vilanovans and there were intense cultural
and commercial exchanges with phoenicians and greeks.
Vilanovans as cultural group gradually evolved and about the end of
7th century B.C. became what we call Etruscans.
About 700 B.C. the Etruscan king Tarquinius Priscus invaded Rome,
had the draining of Sepulcretum area made, builded the Cloaca
Maxima and filled the area between 6 y 10 meters high to avoid
Tibers flooding and get a dry platform on wich to build the Roman
Forum.
Some other etruscan places in the area are:
.- Populonia, the Colline Metallifere, the metal-bearing hills.
.- Orvieto: the Necropolis
Finally, about the end of 3rd Etruscan cities were conquered by
Romans.