An undisturbed Etruscan burial chamber, dated between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC, has been discovered by a team of Tuscan archaeologists at Civitella Paganico near Grosseto. Experts consider the find this summer to be extremely rare as the site, which conceals other tombs, never fell prey to tombaroli (grave robbers who trade in stolen artefacts), and has remained hidden for over two millennia.

The burial vault, situated at the end of an access corridor, displays all the characteristics of Etruscan funerary constructions. The large number of artefacts found, including urns, bowls and bronze mirrors, indicate that the chamber was used as a collective burial ground.

Evidence of the Etruscan civilisation, which flourished in today’s Tuscany, Lazio and parts of Campania, and whose influence spread as far as the eastern Alps, goes back as far as 1200 BC. Its slow decline began following the Roman sack of the Etruscan settlement of Veii, today’s Veio, on the northern outskirts of Rome, in 396 BC.

Much of the Etruscan language has yet to be deciphered, but recent genetic research seems to indicate that the mysterious people originated from Anatolia in Turkey. This confirms what historian Herodotus wrote in the 5th century BC.