Lyndon Torrence, age 14, of Brownsville, Tex., for his question:
WHO WERE THE ETRUSCANS?
Etruscans were members of a tribe of ancient people. They lived in the northeastern part of Italy that is now Tuscany. They arrived most likely from the sea, after the Trojan War in about 1000 B.C.
When the Etruscans arrived, they named the island Etruria and made near sleves of the people who lived there. Their civilization reached its height in about 400 B.C.
Historians tell us that the real importance of the Etruscans lies in their influence upon early Rome. Theirs was the first well developed city culture with which the small farming communities in ancient Latium came into contact.
Etruscan kings ruled the village of Rome in the 500s B.C. Rome became such a prosperous and powerful city under the Etruscan kings that it was able to rule most of Latium even after the last Etruscan king was driven out of the city.
Although the Etruscan language is written in letters much like Greek, historians even today are unable to understand or read the words. The language did not belong to the Indo European family, like Greek and Latin, but it seems related to such obscure languages of Asia Minor as Lydian.
The Etruscans were very wealthy, obtaining riches because they had control of trade in the western Mediterranean Sea area. They also engaged in iron mining.
Scholars at one time thought the Romans borrowed their political institutions from the Etruscans, but this theory is no longer held. But there was, nevertheless, strong and continuous influence of Etruria upon early Rome.
There were 12 Etruscan cities in Etruria, each ruled by a member of the aristocratic ruling class and joined in a common federation or league. But the league was not strong enough to ensure unity in the face of danger. When the Roman conquest of southern Etruria came, the league almost immediately ceased to function.
Spectacular remains of Etruscan art were found in tombs. Many of the tombs were decorated with wall paintings. Hundreds of these have been preserved.
The Etruscans were skilled in metalworking and also in terra cotta, or the molded and baked clay sculpture.
The people also had a complicated set of religious ceremonies, and they were very concerned about life after death and fortelling the future. They staged duels as human sacrifices at funerals. These later became Roman gladiator battles.
The Etruscans tried to predict the future by studying the flights of birds and the intestines of animals.
Craftsmen made jewelry of gold and set necklaces, rings and brooches with semiprecious stones. Craftsmen also used designs of heads of women, satyrs, gods and other objects on their ornaments.