The discovery of a number of distinctive elements of Etruscan material culture in the graves of other communities has sometimes given rise to suggestions that these may belong to individuals marrying into that community. Some examples, however, will convey the difficulty of establishing the identity of the possessors of Etruscan material culture. The necropolis of Pitino di San Severino in the Marche contains distinctive imported items from the Etruscan world (e. g., an ostrich shell jug and a bronze cover), which appear to be arranged in configurations that also reflect Etruscan burial traditions. However, these very circumstances may simply represent exchange or, at most, an emulation of the status achieved by high-ranking Etruscan leaders. A similar reason may lie behind the discovery of metallic containers, drinking vessels, and jugs for wine found in the most important tombs of the Sinni, Agri, and Basento River valleys of southern Italy.
Several instances of the Etruscan abroad give credence to a fully formed concept of Etruscan identity. In Corsica, the Etruscan settlement of Aleria flourished during the fifth and fourth centuries BC, as revealed by a series of cemeteries with distinctive rituals. It is perhaps in ritual that identities become most easily discerned. In the south of France, the indigenous settlement of Lattes appears to have had an Etruscan quarter, demonstrated by the presence of Etruscan inscriptions, as well as bucchero and amphorae. The fifth-century BC inscription found at Pech Maho carries the names of two Etruscan individuals who appear to have been engaged in transactions with the Greek city of Massalia (Marseille). In Greece, at Aegina, a dedication by an Etruscan on a Laconian cup was found in the temple of Aphaia. The Etruscan cities of Caere and Spina are recorded in literary records to have erected treasuries at Delphi.
A very interesting, but more controversial interpretation of Etruscan identity abroad is the reinterpretation of the Lemnos inscriptions. These could have been created by Etruscans who settled there after leaving Etruria, rather than Etruscans of an Eastern origin, as was traditionally thought.
Etruscan inscriptions have been found in many places in the Adriatic area. At Vasto, there are Etruscan inscriptions that date from the midsixth century to the fourth century BC. At Ostra, a dolium appears to have been inscribed by someone from Perugia.
A major test of the coherence of Etruscan identity at the national level was whether a sense of Etruscan identity could survive or, more problematically, be detectable in a non-Etruscan context. The very concept of “abroad” depends on the formation of an identity that survives transfer into the cultural conditions of another community. It does appear, on the whole, that although the Etruscans retained their principal focus of identity in the descent group and the community, there was also a sense of supracommunity identity, albeit not combined with political unity.
World History
