Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com –  The Etruscans, one of Europe’s most mysterious ancient peoples, are believed to have migrated from Lydia in modern western Turkey, settling in northern and central Italy nearly 3,000 years ago. The Etruscan civilization founded many cities in Italy and profoundly influenced ancient Roman culture.

The Etruscans produced colorful frescoes. This is a 5th century BC fresco of dancers and musicians, Tomb of the Leopards, Monterozzi necropolis, Tarquinia, Italy. Image source

They were skilled navigators and incredibly talented craftsmen who left behind stunning art renowned for its vitality and often vivid coloring. Many of the Etruscan colorful wall paintings frequently capture scenes of how their people enjoy themselves at parties and banquets.

The Etruscans Left Behind Strange Artifacts And Buildings

Despite the fact that these ancient people were much closer to us in time, they were even more enigmatic and inaccessible than other ancient cultures such as Crete, Mesopotamia, or Mycenae, and we still have much to learn about the mysterious Etruscan civilization.

Historians and archaeologists can tell a lot about the Etruscans, but some of their unearthed artifacts and structures have been challenging to interpret. The Etruscans’ religious beliefs, traditions, and customs are a complex subject.

Some of their buildings were obviously important, but their purpose was a riddle. Scientists have discovered a vast network of Neolithic tunnels criss-crossing several European countries. This subterranean network was built several millennia ago. Following these ancient underground tunnels, we discovered that there are a series of underground structures deep beneath the city of Orvieto, Italy. According to sources, during the 6th- 4th centuries BC, the town of Orvieto was a culturally and economically developed Etruscan city. One of these underground structures is a strange pyramidal structure. Unfortunately, scientists say they have no idea what it is, and the purpose of the underground Etruscan pyramid remains an ancient mystery.

The burial practices of the Etruscans were not unlike those of the Romans. Like most ancient civilizations, the Etruscans believed in an afterlife, and they buried their ᴅᴇᴀᴅ with grave goods, helping them to get a good start on their journey to a new and unknown world. Scientists have discovered amulets, figurines, and many other symbolic objects in Etruscan tombs.

However, one of the most extraordinary discoveries was made when scientists encountered a most spectacular place, namely, “The Tomb of the Silver Hands,” a monumental place with a long corridor with an atrium open to the sky and leading to three burial chambers that contained the remains of at least three individuals.

(Marco Merola)The silver hands were taken to a nearby laboratory. There (top row, left to right) researchers X-rayed them, fit the pieces of the right hand back together, and (bottom row, left to right) carefully cleaned the more intact left hand. The result: two completely restored and conserved hands.

This tomb must have belonged to high-ranking Etruscan society members regardless of gender. Inside the tomb, scientists found “something unusual lying on the ground among a variety of artifacts—two well-preserved silver hands with traces of gold on the fingers and gold-plated fingernails.”

It’s one of the most perplexing artifacts ever found inside Etruscan tombs.

Mysterious Ancient Monuments Hidden In Selva di Malano

The mysterious stone altars and megaliths, hidden in the Selva di Malano ( Malano forest), show a darker side of the Etruscans.

This site is located in the northernmost part of the town of Soriano, on a slope at the extreme foothills of the Cimini Mountains. Here, the Etruscans used the opportunity to carve mᴀssive rock altars from volcanic eruptions. One of them is the Sᴀsso del Predicatore (Stone of the Preacher)  structure, which was most likely used as a Pagan altar.

Right: One of the odd Etruscan structures found in the Malano forest. Image source –  Left: Stairs leading to the top of the altar. Image source

The steps leading to the tops suggest the Stone of the Preacher could have been used for astronomical observations, but some scientists suggest it may have been an Etruscan place of worship where humans were sacrificed.

In the vicinity of the Stone of the Preacher, there is another ancient structure, which is truly baffling because it may offer evidence of highly advanced technology. This perplexing cubic altar is a perfectly shaped cube with signs that look like a machine made of some sort. This defies any logical explanation because the Etruscans should not have had access to such sophisticated tools, or did they?

See also: Mysterious Fontainebleau Forest – Home To A Lost Civilization

Another possibility attempting to explain the cubic altar’s origin is that the structure was created by an unknown, advanced, lost civilization that was present in the Malano forest long before the arrival of the Etruscans. We simply don’t know. What we know is that several Roman tombs and a small Romanesque church are not far from these mysterious structures. Still, these have the usual architecture ᴀssociated with this historical time period.

Updated on October 6, 2023

Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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