Chapter One - Introduction: The Challenge of Etruria

Summary

This chapter sets the intellectual context of the volume within other studies of the Etruscans and the historical development of the field. This is a volume about the organisation of the spatial patterns of the Etruscans and not of art and material culture which is complementary to other approaches to the subject. A particular emphasis is given to the themes of literacy and settlement, since these can be expressed spatially. The Anno Etrusco of 1985 is one moment in the historiography of the Etruscans given especial emphasis as a time of reflection to provide a comparison with the present. The traditions of settlement recovery at that time can be broken down into three traditions: the topographic archive, predictive work and regional survey. Careful filtering of these data now allows the presentation of a synthesis of which this volume is one first stage.