Etruscan
Ancient Italian civilization
Etruscan refers to the ancient civilization that flourished in central Italy before the rise of Rome, roughly 800–300 BCE.
The Etruscans inhabited what is now Tuscany and influenced early Roman culture, religion, and architecture.
As a noun, an Etruscan is a member of this people.
The Etruscan language, still only partially understood, used an alphabet derived from Greek but is unrelated to any known language family.
Central Italian region
- city-statesSelf-governing urban territories
- necropolisAncient cemetery complex
- sarcophagiDecorated stone burial chests
- tombsChambers for the dead
augury · divination · livers · Roman · pre-Roman · federation
Fired reddish-brown ceramic
- bronzeCopper-tin alloy
- frescoesPaintings on fresh plaster
- tomb paintingsArt on burial chamber walls
- sarcophagiDecorated stone burial chests
pottery · goldwork · granulation · filigree · jewelry · figurines · murals · dancers
Words carved into surfaces
- alphabetLanguage's letter system
- isolateSeparate from others
- undecipheredNot yet interpreted
- bilingualSpeaking two languages
Tuscany
Central Italian region
- city-statesSelf-governing urban territories
- necropolisAncient cemetery complex
- sarcophagiDecorated stone burial chests
tombs · augury · divination · livers · Roman · pre-Roman · federation
terracotta
Fired reddish-brown ceramic
- bronzeCopper-tin alloy
- frescoesPaintings on fresh plaster
- tomb paintingsArt on burial chamber walls
sarcophagi · pottery · goldwork · granulation · filigree · jewelry · figurines · murals · dancers · musicians
inscriptions
Words carved into surfaces
- alphabetLanguage's letter system
- isolateSeparate from others
- undecipheredNot yet interpreted
bilingual · Phoenician · script · epigraphy
divination
Foretelling through mystical means
ritual · underworld · afterlife · prophetic · templum · sacred · pantheon · demons
- ancient civilizationsAncient Egypt, Sumer, Ancient Greece, Aztecs, Egypt
- ancient worldancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, pyramids, pyramid
- archaeologyexcavation, dig site, archaeologist, dig, archaeological digs
- writing historyalphabet, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, scripts
- Ancient CulturesAztec, Inca, Mayan, Olmec, Minoan
- ancient languagesLatin, Greek, Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, Aramaic
- Etruscan tombsPre-Roman Italian burial sites