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'Round A Table of Wines and Wars: Agricultural Practices of the Etruscans
CBTNews Features ^ | 2006 | CropBiotech Net

Posted on 04/17/2019 11:17:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The Italian peninsula seems to shimmer and shine with history and art, from graceful, full bodied nymphs set against make-believe cypresses and oaks, to crumbling mounds of marble on which lie the almost breathable, almost visible words of lives, songs, and politics past. But before all the art, before the reawakening, before the soldiers cloaked in scarlet and gold, and the senators in their Senate hall...before the reign of emperors and tyrants was a race of peoples whose culture lived on in the greatest empire the world has ever known.

They were the Etruscans, a mysterious tribe that scattered throughout northeastern and southern Italy, and brought civilization and urbanization in their wake... Their origins are still disputed; early accounts from the Greek historian Herodotus claimed that they were migrants from Asia Minor. Dionysius, another Greek historian, wrote that the Etruscans were native to Italy...

The Etruscans planted cereals such as barley, millet, panic grass (grass used for fodder) and rye, from which they extracted "puls," the precursor of today's bread. They cultivated olives, grapes, garlic, onions, ceci beans, black eyed peas, fava beans, and lupins. Fruit groves throughout the city states were heavy with pomegranates, figs, blackberries, strawberries, and egg-sized apples and melons. In the barns and yards roamed cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, goats, and sheep. The forests were replete with game, which included hare, deer, and wild boar. From the sea came fresh fish, tuna, and tortoise eggs. In the house, rolling pins rolled out dough, and cutting wheels turned to make fresh pasta. Cellars and cabinets were filled with olive oil and wine.

The Etruscans, in other words, were the rock on which gourmet Italian cooking would be built.

(Excerpt) Read more at isaaa.org ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: agriculture; ancientnavigation; animalhusbandry; asiaminor; dietandcuisine; epigraphyandlanguage; etruria; etruscan; etruscans; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; herodotus; huntergatherers; italy; middleages; mtdna; navigation; oenology; renaissance; romanempire; tuscany; zymurgy
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"They kneaded their bread, practiced boxing, and whipped their slaves to the sound of pipes." -- Athenaeus of Naucratis

Our ticket to the art museum also got us into several other museums in Perugia, so after a cup of strong Italian coffee (sipped under an umbrella since it was still raining) we made our way down the hill to the archeology museum which is filled with ancient Roman ruins, prehistoric tools and artifacts, and a tablet with the oldest known example of Etruscan writing. | Etruscan boundary stone, Cippus Perusinus | The Intrepid Tourist | September in Umbria, Italy, Part 1: Perugia and Deruta | Author Caroline Arnold's travel blog | Monday, September 28, 2015

The Intrepid Tourist

1 posted on 04/17/2019 11:17:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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Cippus Perusinus
Google

2 posted on 04/17/2019 11:19:08 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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Etruscan DNA Part 1 | Classics Confidential | interview with Dr Phil Perkins of The Open University

Etruscan DNA Part 1 | Classics Confidential | interview with Dr Phil Perkins of The Open University

3 posted on 04/17/2019 11:19:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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Etruscan DNA Part 2 | Classics Confidential | interview with Dr Phil Perkins of The Open University

Etruscan DNA Part 2 | Classics Confidential | interview with Dr Phil Perkins of The Open University

4 posted on 04/17/2019 11:19:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

5 posted on 04/17/2019 11:20:00 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Thanks for posting!


6 posted on 04/17/2019 11:31:15 PM PDT by pax_et_bonum (Never Forget the SEALs of Extortion 17 - and God Bless The USA and President Trump.)
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To: SunkenCiv
"...whose culture lived on in the greatest empire the world has ever known."

The Pizza Empire.


7 posted on 04/17/2019 11:31:28 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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8 posted on 04/17/2019 11:32:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder
;^)

9 posted on 04/17/2019 11:48:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: pax_et_bonum
My pleasure, glad you like it. I'd had this on deck, incomplete, for a few months.

10 posted on 04/17/2019 11:49:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv
If you've seen The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson's), by the way, you might notice that there's something missing from the culture of the Gondorians. They have magnificent walled cities, but no AGGRICULTURE. No FOOD.


11 posted on 04/17/2019 11:57:55 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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rest of the Etruscans keyword, chrono sort:

12 posted on 04/18/2019 12:06:28 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder
The farmers and herders were tucked away behind Minas Tirith I think -- after the loss of Osgiliath and and verdant area by the River, things probably got a little tight.

13 posted on 04/18/2019 12:08:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3734012/posts?page=18#18


14 posted on 04/18/2019 12:13:25 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder
Pizza good.

Where's my full bodied nymph though ?

15 posted on 04/18/2019 1:26:11 AM PDT by onona (It is often wise to allow a person a graceful path.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Too bad the Etruscans had no tomatoes.


16 posted on 04/18/2019 4:18:07 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: SoCal Pubbie

... or spices or hat cake later to Sicily.

Sicilian women can really cook.


17 posted on 04/18/2019 5:57:30 AM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion
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To: SoCal Pubbie

Really? No tomatoes, no civilization as we know it.


18 posted on 04/18/2019 6:03:41 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Tomatoes are native to South America. Italian cooking was a lot different before Columbus.


19 posted on 04/18/2019 7:07:14 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
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To: SoCal Pubbie

Ah. A lot of stuff we take for granted today are native to the Americas. Potatoes, corn (maize, rather), sugar, lots of other things probably. Agriculture is what put Native Americans in the late stone age. It was actually pretty advanced.


20 posted on 04/18/2019 7:31:23 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder
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