Editing Etruscan language (section)

===Inscriptions on monuments===
[[File:Cerveteri,_necropoli_della_banditaccia,_via_sepolcrale_principale,_01.jpg|thumb|right|Tumulus on a street at Banditaccia, the main necropolis of [[Caere]]]]

The main material repository of [[Etruscan civilization]], from the modern perspective, is its tombs, all other public and private buildings having been dismantled and the stone reused centuries ago. The tombs are the main source of Etruscan portables, provenance unknown, in collections throughout the world. Their incalculable value has created a brisk black market in Etruscan ''objets d'art'' – and equally brisk law enforcement effort, as it is illegal to remove any objects from Etruscan tombs without authorization from the Italian government.

The magnitude of the task involved in cataloguing them means that the total number of tombs is unknown. They are of many types. Especially plentiful are the [[hypogeum|hypogeal]] or "underground" chambers or system of chambers cut into [[tuff]] and covered by a [[tumulus]]. The interior of these tombs represents a habitation of the living stocked with furniture and favorite objects. The walls may display painted [[mural]]s, the predecessor of wallpaper. Tombs identified as Etruscan date from the [[Villanovan]] period to about 100 BC, when presumably the cemeteries were abandoned in favor of Roman ones.<ref>Some Internet articles on the tombs in general are:<br>
''[http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/tombs.html Etruscan Tombs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513004147/http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/tombs.html |date=2007-05-13 }}'' at mysteriousetruscans.com.<br>
''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930115157/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,936863,00.html Scientific Tomb-Robbing]'', article in ''Time'', Monday, Feb. 25, 1957, displayed at time.com.<br>
''[https://web.archive.org/web/20081214075040/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907013,00.html Hot from the Tomb: The Antiquities Racket]'', article in ''Time'', Monday, Mar. 26, 1973, displayed at time.com.</ref> Some of the major cemeteries are as follows:
* [[Caere]] or [[Cerveteri]], a [[UNESCO]] site.<ref name=cervtarq>Refer to [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1158 Etruscan Necropoleis of Cerveteri and Tarquinia], a World Heritage site.</ref> Three complete [[necropoleis]] with streets and squares. Many [[hypogeum|hypogea]] are concealed beneath [[tumulus|tumuli]] retained by walls; others are cut into cliffs. The Banditaccia necropolis contains more than 1,000 tumuli. Access is through a door.<ref>Some popular Internet sites giving photographs and details of the necropolis are:
[http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/caisra.html Cisra (Roman Caere / Modern Cerveteri)] at mysteriousetruscans.com.<br>
[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/_Periods/Roman/Archaic/Etruscan/_Texts/DENETR*/33.html Chapter XXXIII CERVETRI.a – AGYLLA or CAERE.], George Dennis at Bill Thayer's Website.<br>
[http://www.mapsack.com/item/9002 Aerial photo and map] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929221039/http://www.mapsack.com/item/9002 |date=2007-09-29 }} at mapsack.com.</ref>

* [[Tarquinia]], Tarquinii or Corneto, a [[UNESCO]] site:<ref name="cervtarq" /> Approximately 6,000 graves dating from the [[Villanovan]] (ninth and eighth centuries BC) distributed in ''[[necropoleis]]'', the main one being the Monterozzi [[hypogeum|hypogea]] of the sixth–fourth centuries BC. About 200 painted tombs display murals of various scenes with call-outs and descriptions in Etruscan. Elaborately carved sarcophagi of marble, [[alabaster]], and [[nenfro]] include identificatory and achievemental inscriptions. The [[Tomb of Orcus]] at the Scatolini necropolis depicts scenes of the [[Spurinnia gens|Spurinna]] family with call-outs.<ref>A history of the tombs at Tarquinia and links to descriptions of the most famous ones is given at [http://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/tarchna.html] on mysteriousetruscans.com.</ref>
* Inner walls and doors of tombs and sarcophagi, including the [[Golini Tomb]] and the [[Tomb of Orcus]]
* [[The Orator]] is a bronze statue with a dedicatory inscription of about 13 words in Etruscan
* Engraved steles (tombstones)
* [[Ossuary|ossuaries]]