Editing Etruscan civilization (section)

===Family===
{{Main|Etruscan society#Rise of the family|Women in Etruscan society|l1 = Etruscan society: Rise of the family}}

The princely tombs were not of individuals. The inscription evidence shows that families were interred there over long periods, marking the growth of the aristocratic family as a fixed institution, parallel to the ''[[gens]]'' at Rome and perhaps even its model. The Etruscans could have used any model of the eastern Mediterranean. That the growth of this class is related to the new acquisition of wealth through trade is unquestioned. The wealthiest cities were located near the coast. At the center of the society was the married couple, ''tusurthir''. The Etruscans were a monogamous society that emphasized pairing.

Similarly, the behavior of some wealthy women is not uniquely Etruscan. The apparent promiscuous revelry has a spiritual explanation. Swaddling and Bonfante (among others) explain that depictions of the nude embrace, or symplegma, "had the power to ward off evil", as did baring the breast, which was adopted by [[western culture]] as an [[apotropaic magic|apotropaic device]], appearing finally on the figureheads of sailing ships as a nude female upper torso. It is also possible that Greek and Roman attitudes to the Etruscans were based on a misunderstanding of the place of women within their society. In both Greece and the earliest Republican Rome, respectable women were confined to the house and mixed-sex socialising did not occur. Thus, the freedom of [[Women in the Etruscan society|women within Etruscan society]] could have been misunderstood as implying their sexual availability.<ref name="Briquel, Dominique 2007">Briquel, Dominique; Svensson Pär (2007). Etruskerna. Alhambras pocket encyklopedi, 99-1532610-6; 88 (1. uppl.). Furulund: Alhambra. {{ISBN|9789188992970}}</ref> A number of Etruscan tombs carry funerary inscriptions in the form "X son of (father) and (mother)", indicating the importance of the mother's side of the family.<ref name="Briquel, Dominique 2007"/>