Etruscans Now
Cultural identity
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L.B. van Der Meer - Leiden University
Etruscan Origins
The question of Etruscan origins cannot be dissociated from the structural resemblances between the Etruscan and the Lemnian languages. Since 1996 there has been a fierce debate between linguists. C. de Simone holds that Lemnian is a dialect of Etruscan. Etruscans from Etruria would have occupied Lemnos around 700 B.C. H. Rix, D. H. Steinbauer and others are convinced that the Etruscan language was introduced into Italy by immigrants from the North Aegean/Anatolian area around 1000 B.C. Can archaeologists and philologists solve the problem? New considerations will be put forward.