Etruscans
The Etruscans were an ancient civilization in early Italy who inhabited Etruria, a region that roughly corresponds to modern Tuscany and parts of western Umbria and northern Lazio. They rose in the early Iron Age and reached their greatest urban and cultural development between the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, declining after sustained contact with Rome and Greek colonies, with their incorporation into the Roman state completed by the late Republic. Their origins are debated, but their culture grew out of the earlier Villanovan tradition.
The Etruscan language is a non-Indo-European tongue known from inscriptions in the Etruscan alphabet. It has
Etruscan society consisted of a number of independent city-states, notably Veii, Tarquinia, Cerveteri (Caere), and Clusium.
Culturally, the Etruscans developed a distinctive art, architecture, and religious practice. Their temples, rituals, and pantheon