Bloch Raymond. The Ancient Civilization of the Etruscans. An Archaeological Adventure

New York: Cowles Book Company, 1969. — 206 p. — (Ancient civilizations).Modern archaeology is no longer left to the operation of chance and even greater use is being made of scientific techniques. Remarkable results have been achieved through geophysical methods using resistivity curves, patterns of magnetic anomalies, and seismic diagrams—supplemented by stratigraphic, periscopic, and photographic probes. Nowhere in the entire field of archaeology have these new scientific methods had more striking results than in the case of the Etruscans, as Professor Bloch demonstrates in the present volume.
At the beginning of the 7th century B.C., the Etruscans were a powerful people enjoying a brilliant civilization—one which nearly attained control of the entire Italian peninsula. But the Roman legions destroyed their armies and their cities. Fortunately the Etruscans left behind them countless records of their culture, including works of art that were often handed down from father to son by the Romans, centuries before they found their way to museums.
Many of these can be seen in the superb illustrations that were especially created for this volume by a photographic team that ranged over Europe in its search for important materials. Its most exciting moments came when it photographed Etruscan vaults in Cerveteri and Tarquinia, dating from between the 7th and 3rd centuries B.C.
Etruscan civilization has always posed an enigma, primarily because it is still not possible to read its writing. It is, however, a revelation to see how modern archaeologists can reconstruct a society in the face of this handicap. Raymond Bloch takes the reader behind the scenes and shows how this has been done.