Editing Etruscan civilization (section)

==Culture==
===Agriculture===
The Etruscans were aware of the techniques of [[Irrigation#History|water accumulation and conservation]] in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece. They built canals and dams to irrigate the land, and drained and reclaimed swamps. The archaeological remains of this infrastructure are still evident in the maritime southwestern parts of [[Tuscany]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 November 2022 |title=The Etruscans and agriculture |url=https://antropocene.it/en/2022/11/21/the-etruscans-and-agriculture/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113105505/https://antropocene.it/en/2022/11/21/the-etruscans-and-agriculture/ |archive-date=January 13, 2024 |website=Un Mondo Ecosostenibile}}</ref>

''Vite maritata'' is a [[viticulture]] technique exploiting [[companion planting]] named after the [[Maremma]] region of Italy which may be relevant to [[climate change]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Limbergen |first=Dimitri Van |date=2024-01-04 |title=Ancient Roman wine production may hold clues for battling climate change |url=https://theconversation.com/ancient-roman-wine-production-may-hold-clues-for-battling-climate-change-214518 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229223137/https://theconversation.com/ancient-roman-wine-production-may-hold-clues-for-battling-climate-change-214518 |archive-date= February 29, 2024 }}</ref> It was developed around the area by these early predecessors of the Romans who cultivated plant as nearly as possible in their natural habitat. The [[vine]]s from which wine is made are a kind of [[liana]] that naturally intertwine with trees such as maples or willows.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazzeo |first=Jacopo |date=June 6, 2023 |title=Vite Maritata, an Ancient Vine-Growing Technique, Makes a Comeback |url=https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/vite-maritata/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113105433/https://www.wineenthusiast.com/culture/wine/vite-maritata/ |archive-date=Jan 13, 2024 |website=Wine Enthusiast Magazine}}</ref>

===Religion===
{{Main|Etruscan religion}}
{{multiple image
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 |  image1 = Chimera d'arezzo, fi, 03.JPG
 |  caption1 = [[Chimera of Arezzo]]
 | image2 = Chimera d'arezzo, firenze, 05 firma.JPG
 |  caption2 = Inscription of [[Tinia]] on the Chimera's leg
 }}
The Etruscan system of belief was an [[immanent]] [[polytheism]]; that is, all visible phenomena were considered to be a manifestation of [[divinity|divine]] power and that power was subdivided into [[deity|deities]] that acted continually on the world of man and could be dissuaded or persuaded in favor of human affairs. How to understand the will of deities, and how to behave, had been revealed to the Etruscans by two initiators, [[Tages]], a childlike figure born from tilled land and immediately gifted with prescience, and [[Vegoia]], a female figure. Their teachings were kept in a series of sacred books. Three layers of deities are evident in the extensive Etruscan art motifs. One appears to be divinities of an indigenous nature: [[Etruscan mythology|Catha]] and [[Usil]], the sun; ''Tivr'', the moon; [[Selvans]], a civil god; [[Turan (goddess)|Turan]], the goddess of love; [[Laran]], the god of war; [[Leinth]], the goddess of death; [[Maris (mythology)|Maris]]; [[Thalna]]; [[Turms]]; and the ever-popular [[Fufluns]], whose name is related in some way to the city of [[Populonia]] and the [[populus Romanus]], possibly, the god of the people.<ref name="bookonereligion">{{cite book|first1=De |last1=Grummond |first2=Nancy |last2=Thomson |year=2006 |title=Etruscan Mythology, Sacred History and Legend: An Introduction |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="booktworeligion">{{cite book |first=Erika |last=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQtbJyFCd40C&q=Etruscan+religion&pg=PA1 |title=The religion of the Etruscans |via=Google Books | isbn=978-0-292-70687-3 |df=dmy-all|date = 2009-04-20|publisher=University of Texas Press }}</ref>

Ruling over this pantheon of lesser deities were higher ones that seem to reflect the [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Indo-European]] system: Tin or [[Tinia]], the sky, [[Uni (mythology)|Uni]] his wife ([[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]), and [[Cel (goddess)|Cel]], the earth goddess. In addition, some<!--Minerva is roman--> Greek and Roman gods were inspired by the Etruscan system: [[Artume|Aritimi]] ([[Artemis]]), [[Menrva]] ([[Minerva]]), Pacha ([[Dionysus]]). The Greek heroes taken from [[Homer]] also appear extensively in art motifs.<ref name="bookonereligion"/><ref name="booktworeligion"/>

===Architecture===
{{main|Etruscan architecture}}
[[File:Hypogeum cyark 1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|3D view, facing west, of the Etruscan Hypogeum of the Volumnis, [[Perugia]], Italy, cut from a [[3D scanner|laser scan]]]]
Relatively little is known about the architecture of the ancient Etruscans. They adapted the native Italic styles with influence from the external appearance of [[Greek architecture]]. In turn, [[ancient Roman architecture]] began with Etruscan styles, and then accepted still further Greek influence. [[Roman temple]]s show many of the same differences in form to Greek ones that Etruscan temples do, but like the Greeks, use stone, in which they closely copy Greek conventions. The houses of the wealthy were evidently often large and comfortable, but the burial chambers of tombs, often filled with grave-goods, are the nearest approach to them to survive. In the southern Etruscan area, tombs have large rock-cut chambers under a [[tumulus]] in large [[Necropolis|necropoleis]], and these, together with some city walls, are the only Etruscan constructions to survive. Etruscan architecture is not generally considered as part of the body of Greco-Roman [[classical architecture]].<ref name="booktwoarchitecture">{{cite book|first1=Axel |last1=Boëthius |first2=Roger |last2=Ling |first3=Tom |last3=Rasmussen |year=1994 |title=Etruscan and early Roman architecture |publisher=Yale University Press| df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Art and music ===
{{Main|Etruscan art}}
[[File:Danseurs et musiciens, tombe des léopards.jpg|thumb|200px|5th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC fresco of dancers and musicians, [[Tomb of the Leopards]], [[Monterozzi necropolis]], Tarquinia, Italy]]

Etruscan art was produced by the Etruscan civilization between the 9th and 2nd centuries BC. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta (particularly lifesize on [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]] or temples), wall-painting and [[metalworking]] (especially engraved bronze mirrors). Etruscan sculpture in cast bronze was famous and widely exported, but few large examples have survived (the material was too valuable, and recycled later). In contrast to terracotta and bronze, there was apparently little Etruscan sculpture in stone, despite the Etruscans controlling fine sources of marble, including [[Carrara marble]], which seems not to have been exploited until the Romans. Most surviving Etruscan art comes from tombs, including all the [[fresco]] wall-paintings, a minority of which show scenes of feasting and some narrative mythological subjects.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/trans/it/2-1024/i-banchetti-etruschi/|title=I banchetti etruschi|access-date=24 November 2021|language=it}}</ref>

[[Bucchero]] wares in black were the early and native styles of fine Etruscan pottery. There was also a tradition of elaborate [[Etruscan vase painting]], which sprung from its Greek equivalent; the Etruscans were the main export market for [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek vases]]. Etruscan temples were heavily decorated with colorfully painted terracotta [[antefix]]es and other fittings, which survive in large numbers where the wooden superstructure has vanished. Etruscan art was strongly connected to [[Etruscan religion|religion]]; the afterlife was of major importance in Etruscan art.<ref name="etruscianartmusic">{{cite book |title=Etruscan Art |first=Nigel |last=Spivey |year=1997 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |location=London}}</ref>

The Etruscan musical instruments seen in frescoes and bas-reliefs are different types of pipes, such as the [[aulos|plagiaulos]] (the pipes of [[Pan (mythology)|Pan]] or [[Syrinx]]), the alabaster pipe and the famous double pipes, accompanied on percussion instruments such as the [[Tintinnabulum (Ancient Rome)|tintinnabulum]], [[Timpani|tympanum]] and [[crotales]], and later by stringed instruments like the [[lyre]] and [[kithara]].

===Language===
{{Main|Etruscan language|Tyrsenian languages}}
[[File:Perugia, Museo archeologico Nazionale dell'Umbria, cippo di Perugia.jpg|thumb|right|170px|[[Cippus Perusinus]]. 3rd–2nd century BC, San Marco near [[Perugia]]]]
Etruscans left around 13,000 [[epigraphy|inscriptions]] which have been found so far, only a small minority of which are of significant length. Attested from 700 BC to AD 50, the relation of Etruscan to other languages has been a source of long-running speculation and study. The Etruscans are believed to have spoken a [[Pre-Indo-European languages|Pre-Indo-European]]<ref>[[Massimo Pallottino]], ''La langue étrusque Problèmes et perspectives'', 1978.</ref><ref>Mauro Cristofani, ''Introduction to the study of the Etruscan'', Leo S. Olschki, 1991.</ref><ref>Romolo A. Staccioli, ''The "mystery" of the Etruscan language'', Newton & Compton publishers, Rome, 1977.</ref> and [[Paleo-European languages|Paleo-European language]],<ref name=Haarmann2014>{{cite book |last1=Haarmann |first1=Harald |author-link1=Harald Haarmann |year=2014 |chapter=Ethnicity and Language in the Ancient Mediterranean |editor1-last= McInerney|editor1-first= Jeremy |title=A Companion to Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean |language=en |location=Chichester, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc |publication-date=2014 |pages=17–33 |doi=10.1002/9781118834312.ch2 |isbn= 9781444337341}}</ref> and the majority consensus is that Etruscan is related only to other members of what is called the [[Tyrsenian languages|Tyrsenian language family]], which in itself is an [[language isolate|isolate family]], that is unrelated directly to other known language groups. Since [[Helmut Rix|Rix]] (1998), it is widely accepted that the Tyrsenian family groups [[Raetic language|Raetic]] and [[Lemnian language|Lemnian]] are related to Etruscan.<ref name="Rix-2008" />

===Literature===
[[File:Lanena_knjiga_(Liber_linteus_Zagrebiensis).jpg|thumb|right|220px|Samples of Etruscan script, from the [[Liber linteus]]]]
Etruscan texts, written in a space of seven centuries, use a form of the [[Greek alphabet]] due to close contact between the Etruscans and the Greek colonies at [[Ischia|Pithecusae]] and [[Cumae]] in the 8th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC (until it was no longer used, at the beginning of the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;AD). Etruscan inscriptions disappeared from [[Chiusi]], [[Perugia]] and [[Arezzo]] around this time. Only a few fragments survive, religious and especially funeral texts, most of which are late (from the 4th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC). In addition to the original texts that have survived to this day, there are a large number of quotations and allusions from classical authors. In the 1st&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC, [[Diodorus Siculus]] wrote that literary culture was one of the great achievements of the Etruscans. Little is known of it and even what is known of their language is due to the repetition of the same few words in the many inscriptions found (by way of the modern epitaphs) contrasted in bilingual or trilingual texts with Latin and [[Punic language|Punic]]. Out of the aforementioned genres, is just one such Volnio (Volnius) cited in classical sources mentioned.<ref>[[Varro]], ''De lingua Latina'', 5.55.</ref> With a few exceptions, such as the [[Liber Linteus]], the [[Thesaurus Linguae Etruscae|only written records in the Etruscan language]] that remain are inscriptions, mainly funerary. The language is written in the [[Etruscan alphabet]], a script related to the early [[Euboean alphabet|Euboean Greek alphabet]].<ref>{{cite book |last1= Maras|first1=Daniele F. |year=2015 |chapter=Etruscan and Italic Literacy and the Case of Rome |editor1-last= Bloome |editor1-first=W. Martin |title=A Companion to Ancient Education |language=en |location=Chichester, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |page= 202}}</ref> Many thousand inscriptions in Etruscan are known, mostly [[epitaph]]s, and a few [[Thesaurus Linguae Etruscae|very short texts]] have survived, which are mainly religious. Etruscan imaginative literature is evidenced only in references by later Roman authors, but it is evident from their visual art that the Greek myths were well known.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Nielsen |first1=Marjatta |last2=Rathje |first2=Annette |chapter=Artumes in Etruria—the Borrowed Goddess |editor1-last=Fischer-Hansen |editor1-first=Tobias |editor2-last= Poulsen|editor2-first=Birte |title=From Artemis to Diana: The Goddess of Man and Beast |language=en|location=Copenhagen |publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press |page=261 |quote= A massive Greek impact is clear especially in the coastal territory, which has led many to believe that the Etruscans were entirely Hellenized. Countless depictions show that Greek myths were, indeed, adopted and well-known to the Etruscans.}}</ref>

With the founding of [[wikt:Πιθηκοῦσαι|Pithekussai]] on [[Ischia]] and Kyme (lat. [[Cumae]]) in [[Campania]] in the course of the [[Greek colonization]], the Etruscans came under the influence of the [[Greek culture]] in the 8th century BC. The Etruscans adopted an [[alphabet]] from the western Greek colonists that came from their homeland, the Euboean [[Chalkis]]. This alphabet from Cumae is therefore also called Euboean<ref name="Larissa Bonfante p. 14">Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 14.</ref> or Chalcidian<ref>Friedhelm Prayon: ''The Etruscans. History, religion, art.'' p. 38.</ref> Alphabet. The oldest written records of the Etruscans date from around 700 BC.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 56.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" 
|-
! colspan="24"|Euboean alphabet<ref>Steven Roger Fischer: ''History of Writing.'' S. 138.</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:left;width:20px"|Letter
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Alpha 06.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Beta 16.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Gamma archaic 1.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Delta 03.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Epsilon archaic.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Digamma oblique.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Zeta archaic.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Eta archaic.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Theta archaic.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Iota normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Kappa normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Lambda 06.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Mu 02.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Nu straight.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Xi archaic grid.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Omicron 04.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Pi archaic.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek San 02.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Koppa normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Rho pointed.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Sigma normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Tau normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Upsilon normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Chi normal.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Phi 02.svg|20px]]
|style="width:20px"|[[File:Greek Psi straight.svg|20px]]
|-
|Transcription
|A
|B
|G
|D
|E
|V
|Z
|H
|TH
|I
|K
|L
|M
|N
|X
|O
|P
|Ś
|Q
|R
|S
|T
|U
|X
|PH
|CH
|}

One of the oldest Etruscan written documents is found on the [[:it:Tavoletta di Marsiliana|tablet of Marsiliana d’Albegna]] from the hinterland of [[Vulci]], which is now kept in the [[National Archaeological Museum of Florence|National Archaeological Museum]] of [[Florence]]. A western Greek model alphabet is engraved on the edge of this [[wax tablet]] made of [[ivory]]. In accordance with later Etruscan writing habits, the [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]] in this model alphabet were mirrored and arranged from right to left:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="24"|Early Etruscan alphabet<ref>Steven Roger Fischer: ''History of Writing.'' S. 140.</ref>
|-
|style="text-align:left;width:20px"|Letter
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanA-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanB-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanC-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanD-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanE-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanF-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanZ-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanH-02.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanTH-03.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanI-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanK-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanL-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanM-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanN-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:Greek Xi archaic grid.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:Greek Omicron 04.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanP-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanSH-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanQ-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanR-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:Greek Sigma Z-shaped.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanT-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanV-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanX-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanPH-01.svg|20px]]
|style="text-align:center;width:20px"|[[File:EtruscanKH-01.svg|20px]]
|-
|Transcription
|align="center"|A
|align="center"|B
|align="center"|C
|align="center"|D
|align="center"|E
|align="center"|F
|align="center"|Z
|align="center"|H
|align="center"|TH
|align="center"|I
|align="center"|K
|align="center"|L
|align="center"|M
|align="center"|N
|align="center"|S
|align="center"|O
|align="center"|P
|align="center"|SH 
|align="center"|Q
|align="center"|R
|align="center"|S
|align="center"|T
|align="center"|U
|align="center"|X
|align="center"|PH
|align="center"|KH
|-
|}

The script with these letters was first used in southern Etruria around 700 BC in the Etruscan [[Etruscan cities|Cisra]] (lat. [[Caere]]), today's [[Cerveteri]].<ref name="Larissa Bonfante p. 14"/> The science of writing quickly reached central and northern Etruria. From there, the alphabet spread from [[Volterra]] (Etr. [[Etruscan cities|Velathri]]) to [[Etruscan cities|Felsina]], today's [[Bologna]], and later from [[Chiusi]] (Etr. [[Etruscan cities|Clevsin]]) to the Po Valley. In southern Etruria, the writing spread from [[Tarquinia]] (Etr. [[Etruscan cities|Tarchna]]) and [[Veii]] (Etr. [[Etruscan cities|Veia]]) further south to Campania, which was controlled by the Etruscans at the time.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 54.</ref> In the following centuries the Etruscans consistently used the letters mentioned, so that the [[deciphering]] of the Etruscan inscriptions is not a problem. As in Greek, the characters were subject to regional and temporal changes. Overall, one can distinguish an archaic script from the 7th to 5th centuries from a more recent script from the 4th to 1st centuries BC, in which some characters were no longer used, including the X for a sh sound. In addition, in writing and language, the emphasis on the first syllable meant that internal vowels were not reproduced, e.g. ''[[Menrva]]'' instead of ''Menerva''.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 81.</ref> Accordingly, [[linguists]] also distinguish between Old and New Etruscan.<ref>Friedhelm Prayon: ''Die Etrusker. History, Religion, Art.'' pp. 38–40.</ref>

[[File:Etruscan bucchero cock.jpg|thumb|Bucchero cockerel from [[Viterbo]]. Small Etruscan bottle from 630 to 620 BCE with an early form of the alphabet]]

Alongside the [[:it:Tavoletta di Marsiliana|tablet of Marsiliana d’Albegna]], around 70 objects with model alphabets have been preserved from the early period.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 55.</ref> The most famous of these are:
* [[Alabastron]] from the [[Regolini-Galassi tomb]] in Cerveteri
* [[:de:Bucchero-Amphore von Formello|Bucchero amphora from Formello]]
* [[:de:Bucchero-Hähnchen von Viterbo|Bucchero cockerel from Viterbo]]
* [[Bucchero]] vessel from the necropolis of Sorbo near Cerveteri

As all four artifacts date from the 7th century B.C. come from, the alphabets are always written clockwise.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 133.</ref> The last object has the special feature that, in addition to the letters of the alphabet, almost all consonants are shown in sequence in connection with the vowels I, A, U and E ([[Syllabary]]). This syllabic writing system was probably used to practice the written characters.<ref name="Larissa Bonfante p. 14"/>

The most important Etruscan written monuments that contain a large number of words include:
* [[Liber Linteus]] (''Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis'') – ritual text with around 1400 words
* [[Tabula Capuana|Clay Tablet of Capua]] (''Tabula'' or ''Tegula Capuana'') – ritual text as a bustrophedon with 62 lines and around 300 words
* [[Tabula Cortonensis|Tablet of Cortona]] (''Tabula Cortonensis'') – contract text with a length of 32 lines and about 200 words
* [[Cippus Perusinus]] – travertine block with 46 lines and about 125 words from near [[Perugia]]
* [[Pyrgi Tablets]] – parallel texts in Etruscan and [[Phoenician script|Punic script]]
* [[Sarcophagus of Laris Pulenas]] – grave inscription of Laris Pulena with nine lines of text on a sarcophagus scroll
* [[Liver of Piacenza]] – model of a sheep's liver with 40 inscriptions
* [[Lead Plaque of Magliano]] – sacrificial instructions with 70 words
* [[:de:Bleistreifen von Santa Marinella|Lead strip from Santa Marinella]] – two fragments of a sacrificial vow
* Building inscription of the tomb of San Manno near Perugia – 30-word consecration inscription
* {{ill|Poupé aryballos|fr|Aryballe Poupé}} – Clockwise dedication inscription on a bucchero bottle
* [[Tuscanian dice]] – Two dice with the numbers 1 to 6

No further Etruscan literature has survived and from the early 1st century AD, inscriptions with Etruscan characters have ceased to exist. All existing ancient Etruscan written documents are systematically collected in the [[Corpus Inscriptionum Etruscarum]].

In the middle of the 7th century BC, the Romans adopted the Etruscan writing system and letters. In particular, they used the three different characters C, K and Q for a K sound. Z was also initially adopted into the Roman alphabet, although the affricate TS did not occur in the Latin language. Later, Z was replaced in the alphabet by the newly formed letter G, which was derived from C, and Z was finally placed at the end of the alphabet.<ref>Steven Roger Fischer: ''History of Writing.'' pp. 141–142.</ref> The letters Θ, Φ and Ψ were omitted by the Romans because the corresponding aspirated sounds did not occur in their language.

The Etruscan alphabet spread across the northern and central parts of the Italian peninsula. It is assumed that the formation of the [[Oscan language|Oscan script]], probably in the 6th century BC, was fundamentally influenced by Etruscan. The characters of the [[Umbrian language|Umbrian]], [[Faliscan language|Faliscan]] and [[Venetic language|Venetic]] languages can also be traced back to Etruscan alphabets.<ref>Larissa Bonfante, Giuliano Bonfante: ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction.'' p. 117.</ref>