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An astonishing archaeological discovery has been made in the San Giuliano Necropolis, located in the Marturanum Regional Park near Barbarano Romano, central Italy. The Baylor University team, excavating under the auspices of Italy's Ministry of Culture and in close collaboration with the Soprintendenza (Heritage Authority), has discovered a sealed, intact Etruscan rock-cut tomb dating back to the end of the 7th century BCE—the final phase of the Orientalizing period.The discovery is particularly uncommon, as most of the more than 500 tombs in the necropolis have been looted over the centuries...Once the vast stone slab that had sealed off the entrance...

The carving on this gemstone depicts the mythological carpenter Taitle, whose name is inscribed at the bottom. Taitle is the Etruscan equivalent of Daedalus, the Greek inventor who fashioned wings for himself and his son Icarus, whose Etruscan counterpart is named Vikare. Together, father and son used the wings to escape the island of Crete, where the pair were imprisoned lest they expose the secrets of the labyrinth that Daedalus had designed."Taitle is an important figure for craftspeople, especially for the Etruscans," says archaeologist Holly Piper of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. Artisans frequently depicted Taitle wearing or constructing...

Dive into the mysterious and fascinating world of the Etruscans, one of the most enigmatic civilizations of ancient Italy. This comprehensive one-hour video takes you through various aspects of Etruscan history, culture, and society. From the Orientalizing Period to the Etruscan artisans, from their unique tombs to their influence on Rome, every segment provides valuable insights and intriguing details. Starting with an introduction to the Orientalizing Period, you’ll discover the early influences on Etruscan civilization. Learn about the origins of the Etruscans, followed by an exploration of Etruscan society and the skilled artisans who shaped their culture. Discover the impressive...

Asmall site on the rocky island of Tavolara off the coast of Sardinia may reveal a robust trading relationship between two Iron Age cultures. In the ninth century B.C., the Nuragic people of the main island of Sardinia exchanged ceramic and metal artifacts with the Villanovans, early Etruscans who inhabited central Italy. Although brooches and other Villanovan metal objects have been unearthed occasionally on Sardinia, evidence of exchange between the cultures has come primarily from Nuragic artifacts found in the tombs of high-status Villanovans in northern Etruria. As a result, scholars think that the Nuragic people and Villanovans mostly interacted...

Italian authorities have recovered precious 3rd century B.C. artefacts from an Etruscan necropolis looted by a couple of bungling tomb raiders in Umbria who stumbled across the haul on their land...The artefacts, including eight urns, two sarcophagi and beauty accessories such as bronze mirrors and a perfume bottle still redolent of its original scent, are worth at least 8 million euros ($8.5 million), Carabinieri art police said.They were found in Citta della Pieve, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Rome.One sarcophagus contained the full skeleton of a woman in her 40s, while the urns were finely decorated with scenes...

CHAPTERSThe Lost Civilization of Outdoor Living 00:01:22Mediterranean Italian and Tuscan Architecture: Etruscan Foundations 00:02:17Did the Etruscans Build Rome? 00:03:48Kings, Generals, and the Shaping of Tuscany 00:07:25Archaeological Discoveries and UNESCO Sites 00:08:20Etruscan Culture and Myths: The Soul of Tuscany 00:09:58Common Questions About the Etruscans 00:10:27Etruscan Architecture: Secrets of the Lost Civilization of Outdoor Living | 14:21Mythomaniac | 3.92K subscribers | 159 views | September 13, 2024

For the nearly two centuries since this Etruscan oil lamp was found near the city of Cortona, Italy, it has confounded scholars. It was unearthed in a ditch, so its original context is unknown. And its combination of imagery is unique in the ancient Mediterranean world, leaving nothing to compare it with that might hint at how it was used. On the bottom of the lamp, at the center, is an image of a fearsome Gorgon surrounded by snakes. This Gorgon is encircled by a frieze of animals, including dolphins, in combat. In the next ring, crouching male demigods known...

After years of work, archaeologists discovered an impressive Etruscan tomb partially hidden underground in the rock-cut necropolis of San Giuliano in Barbarano, north of Rome.The Etruscan Necropolis of San Giuliano is carved into the reddish rocks of the Marturanum Park, a protected natural area in the municipality of Barbarano Romano, on the road between Rome and Viterbo, in the heart of Southern Etruria.According to archaeologists, no known Etruscan necropolis presents such a variety and richness of burial types as San Giuliano. Dating back to the 7th century BC, it stands on the sides of a tufaceous cliff occupied by a...

In Plato’s account of Atlantis, found in both Timaeus and Critias, the legendary island civilization supposedly fought a war against the Greeks. This is a vital part of the account, for it is the whole reason why Plato included it in these dialogues. However, is there any evidence that this legendary war between Atlantis and the Greeks really happened? Plato’s account of the war against Atlantis In Timaeus, written around 360 BCE, Socrates expresses his wish to hear an account about Athens in action. Critias responds that he knows of such an account. He then goes on to tell Socrates...

...The tomb lies within the archaeological site of Vulci—located between the municipalities of Montalto di Castro and Canino in Italy's central Lazio region—which preserves the ruins of an Etruscan city.The Etruscans were an ancient people who lived in parts of what is now Italy more than two thousand years ago. Their civilization reached its height in around the 6th century B.C., before being succeeded by the Romans, who adopted many features of their culture.Vulci was an important Etruscan settlement that flourished in the 6th to 4th centuries B.C.—largely thanks to trade, the extraction of minerals and the manufacture of bronze...

Witches have had a long and elaborate history, even back to ancient Greece. Thanks to Homer and his epic adventure tale the Odyssey, we met Circe, who has often been identified as the first witch in Greek mythology. Circe was one of the most dangerous women a man could come across. She was known for seducing men, luring them to her island, and never letting them go. When men, driven mad by their desire to touch her, visited the island, she caught them off guard and used a spell to transform them into pigs, trapping them forever in their ignominious...

The temple was discovered during the Vulci Cityscape Project which intended to learn about the settlement strategies and urban structures of the eponymous city...The building measures 45x35 meters and is located west of a sacred structure called Tempio Grande.An initial examination of the rocks in the foundation of the temple, as well as artifacts that were found there, enabled the researchers, led by Dr. Mariachiara Franceschini of the University of Freiburg and Paul P. Pasieka of the University of Mainz, to determine that the temple was built around the end of the sixth or the beginning of the fifth century...“The...

Italian archaeologists have unearthed 24 beautifully preserved bronze statues in Tuscany believed to date back to ancient Roman times. The statues were discovered under the muddy ruins of an ancient bathhouse in San Casciano dei Bagni, a hilltop town in the Siena province, about 160km (100 miles) north of the capital Rome. Depicting Hygieia, Apollo and other Greco-Roman gods, the figures are said to be around 2,300 years old. One expert said the find could "rewrite history". Most of the statues - which were found submerged beneath the baths alongside around 6,000 bronze, silver and gold coins - date to...

East Bulgaria Reveals Minoan Pertainence 18 January 2005, Tuesday. The Eastern Rhodopes revealed an old-times funeral site obviously pertaining to an ancient Crete-Micenae cult dating 3,500 years ago. The demographic researcher Mincho Gumarov of Kardzhali has donated the local museum with unique finds of ceramics, bronze and silver. The artifacts from the late bronze epoch were found in the nearby Samara cave. The find's pertainence to the epoch of legendary Micenae derives from the found labris (short two-face ritual axe, characteristic of that civilisation) and a silver amulet of the cult to Mother Earth, as well as pieces of surgery...

Etruscan Origins | Ancient Myths and DNAStudy of Antiquity and the Middle Ages | February 20, 2022

The... burial site in the southern Tuscany region of Italy... survived the Roman conquest of Etruria...Analysis of the grave goods (items buried along with the bodies) and burying rituals from the necropolis, one of the few sites untouched by looters in either antiquity or modernity, suggests how the many entrenched and distinct characteristics of the Etruscan population survived in the presence of the dominant Roman power and its associated law.These persistent and complex Etruscan traditions continued for more than two centuries after the Roman conquest in ways that shaped the social, cultural and economic habits of the territory until the...

Rare items believed to have been used as votive offerings to the gods -- including so-called fertility statuettes shaped like a phallus, a womb and a pair of breasts -- have been dug out from the site's mud. So have 3,000 ancient coins, 700 of which are freshly minted -- and still shiny. In the second century AD, Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Carus had the coins thrown into the baths to honor gods watching over his health, as well as that of all Romans traveling to San Casciano for thermal treatment...During Etruscan and Roman times, womb-shaped votive offerings were usually...

In general, historiography concerning ancient Sicily is overwhelmingly Greco-centric, i.e. focused on its Greek immigrants. Because the indigenous population’s architectonic remains are relatively invisible, whilst those of the Greek immigrants are monumental, the accepted historiography has been that the indigenous population had neither territory, power nor economic resources.It was instead accepted that as soon as the Greeks had established themselves on the island (on the western side in 628 BCE) they colonised and controlled the majority of the Sicilian lowlands, the economy and thus also the indigenous population.This outlook has contributed to an imbalance and a distorted picture of the...

A new genetic analysis may have finally revealed the origin of the Etruscans — a mysterious people whose civilization thrived in Italy centuries before the founding of Rome. It turns out the enigmatic Etruscans were local to the area, with nearly identical genetics to their Latin-speaking neighbors This finding contradicts earlier theories that the Etruscans — who for centuries spoke a now extinct, non-Indo-European language that was remarkably different from others in the region — came from somewhere different from their Latin-speaking neighbors. Instead, both groups appear to be migrants from the Pontic-Caspian steppe — a long, thin swath of...

A new genetic analysis may have finally revealed the origin of the Etruscans — a mysterious people whose civilization thrived in Italy centuries before the founding of Rome. It turns out the enigmatic Etruscans were local to the area, with nearly identical genetics to their Latin-speaking neighbors. ***** both groups appear to be migrants from the Pontic-Caspian steppe — a long, thin swath of land stretching from the north Black Sea around Ukraine to the north Caspian Sea in Russia. After arriving in Italy during the Bronze age, the early speakers of Etruscan put down roots, assimilating speakers of other...