THE ETRUSCANS

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1788, 29 July 1926, Page 7

THE ETRUSCANS

ITALY’S OLDEST (FASCISTS. A MYSTERY UNSOLVED. The congress that has just taken place in Florence is a proof of the vivid interest that the Etruscan problem still continues to arouse in Italy, writes 'the Florence correspondent of the Lond.on Daily Mail. Who were the Etruscans? Did their ancestors come into Italy from Asia Minor, or were they an indigenous race that, under the influence of Greek culture, performed a miracle of selfdevelopment and became for some four or five centuries the predominant power in Central Italy? These questions were discussed at the congress by the foremost Italian archaeologists, who confessed that the mystery of the Etruscans remains a mystery 'still, and will continue to do so until some definite clue cau be found to their language.

About 9000 Etrusean inscriptions have already been collected and published', butt they consist, with few excetionss of short .funeral epitaphs, in which the words denote nothing more than proper names or tie s of relationship. Archaeologists -are in hope that future excavations may yield the key that will enable us to understand not only how the Etruscans were buried hut how they lived. The last three days of the congress were spent in an excursion to the sites of the most recent Government excavations in Maremma. At Populonia, the great Etruscan port, interesting discoveries are being made as to the way in which the Etruscans smelted the metals they used ito procure from Elba. At Vetulonia, where tombs t filled with tfie most artistic bronzes and gold jewellery were found a few years ago, attempts are being made to trace the outline of the city itself. Vetulonia takes high stand among ■Etruscan cities, for was it not she that gave Rome the lictors’ axe and fasces, that stern emblem of justice that now, after twenty-six centuries, has again become the symbol of discipline not only for Rome but for all Italy. ( The Vetulonians are therefore the oldest Fascists in the country, and their welcome to the membersi of the Etruscan Congress was one that none of those present will ever forget. A fine, stalwart population, these modern Etruscans, with children like cherubfe and girls and youths, who ■stood with the poise of classic statues, and all with the quiet dignity of bearing of people whose heritage goes back far into the past and who are fully aware of it. The scene brought a strange realisation that past.and present, between which there sometimes seems a great gulf fixed, are always one in Italy.