鸵鸟蛋、黑陶与铜肝：神秘的伊特鲁里亚人

Lost Civilizations

by Lucy Shipley, 露西·希普利, 戚悦 (Translator)

声名显赫的伊特鲁里亚人曾经在古意大利建立了颇具影响力的强大文明，然而他们却常常遭到误解，被当作一个陌生而未知的民族，其语言和文化也已基本消失。露西·希普利撰写的全新伊特鲁里亚史为读者呈现了另一番景象：这个民族与希腊保持着贸易往来，促进了罗马文明的发展，启发了文艺复兴时期的艺术家和浪漫主义时期的推动者，对现代世界依然具有深远的影响。

本书描述了伊特鲁里亚文物从诞生到使用、遗失、发现和重塑的过程。从时尚沙龙上埃及木乃伊的裹尸布，到波拿巴家族成员的业余活动，这本书带领我们踏上了一趟精彩的旅程；它借助伊特鲁里亚考古学，向我们展示了许多神奇而有趣的地方。作者将历史与最新的考古学证据结合起来，以独特的视角解读这个充满谜团的文明，揭示了我们现在知道哪些答案，以及还有多少问题等待我们去探索。

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Italy, Ancient History, Art

281 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2017

Reviews

[WarpDrive · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading it when I was around half-way through, as this is one of the most ridiculously off-topic books that I have ever read, and definitely the worst book on the Etruscan civilization that I have ever come across.

It has little to do with the exploration of this fascinating civilization, as unfortunately much of it is devoted to the author's ideological crusades against social inequality, colonialism, racism, European cultural biases, male chauvinism, fascism etc.

Just as an example, let's look at one of the the first statements in chapter six: "a further distinction is often made on a person's biological sex - defined here as a presence or absence of particular physical equipment . The existence of a penis or vagina at birth begins a process of socialization".
Subtly and retrospectively applying modern cultural and ethical norms to civilizations dated two and a half millennia ago is not just an anachronism, but also a cringe-worthy abuse of historical research, and as such it should have no place whatsoever in any serious history book.
I suspect that this is part of a trend in a "cancel" or "woke" culture that lives in an ideological world separated from historical reality and is implicitly keen on rewriting history on the basis of the latest cultural fads and in accordance with the most trendy tenets of political correctness.

While I personally feel in some agreement with many of the ideological positions of the author, the issue that I have here is that she has chosen the completely wrong venue to pursue and discuss such opinions: when reading this book, you actually get the increasingly distinct impression that the description of the Etruscan civilization is just a veiled disguised pretext for the relentless pursuit of the author's ideological crusades. As a result of this unfortunate approach, the reader who is after detailed, well-researched, balanced and concrete historical investigation of this historical period will be left feeling cheated and sorely disappointed.
This is already a relatively small book, and once you remove the space allocated to the pictures, and the parts of the text devoted to the author's ideological anachronisms and to her incessant and irksome moralizing, there is little space left for a serious historical treatment of the subject that is supposed to be covered by the book.

If you are interested in a serious historical analysis of the Etruscan civilization, you will be better off with many other much more adequate and deeper books on the subject.
Yes, admittedly the book is not a complete failure (the part related to the analysis of the origins of the Etruscans comes close to being almost good), but if I had to summarize my reading experience I must to say that I feel like I want my reading time back.

[Tim Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two kinds of archaeology books. The first says, "These are the facts." The second says, "These are the theories, the people who held them and the reasons they gave." The second kind is more honest and more scientific, but harder on the reader. This book is the second kind.


Case in point: Did the Etruscans migrate from Anatolia in historical times? Everyone who ever studied the Etruscans has an opinion, and they all get to have their say. Frankly, I didn't need to know all that. A single paragraph would have been enough. "Herodotus tells us ... But even in antiquity, many scholars disagreed. The prevailing view today is..."


I read in an earlier book (of the first kind) that Etruscan women had greater freedom and status than Roman women, and that sexual mores were more relaxed. Lucy Shipley equivocates for two chapters but comes to the same conclusion.


Etruscans vases and sculptures fit neatly into the Greek and Roman spectrum. Is this import, migration, imitation or coincidence? I believe the Etruscans imported Greek art, welcomed Greek artists and also developed their own styles. I don't think I ever quite worked out where Shipley stands on this. She bats pretty vigorously for the Etruscans, so I suppose she believes that the Etruscans had their own style right from the beginning.


Why do the Etruscans matter? They were the most advanced native culture in pre-Roman Italy, so they give us control group when it comes to studying the early Romans. The Romans absorbed a great deal of Etruscan culture, including their art and alphabet. A mere glance at the Etruscan helmet shows that it was the direct ancestor of the helmet worn by the Roman legions. Yet the Romans were also different from the Etruscans: they were much more militaristic, for instance. To understand the unique traits that led to Empire, we need the Etruscans as a basis of comparison.

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.

This is part of a series on “Lost Civilisations”, but Shipley pushes back on that idea from the start — Angkor Wat, for example, was never “lost” to local people; it was “discovered” by non-local people who acted as though locals had no connection to it, and this is a pattern that keeps repeating: Westerners find something monumental and assume that it has been “lost” and the civilisation that created it is dead, etc, etc. I don’t want to get into the truths and lies about that or debate it too much, but I found it interesting and refreshing to view history and archaeology this way.

The Etruscans are pretty enigmatic, and frequently portrayed as such, partly because we don’t have much insight into their language. The amount of Etruscan we have to work with is steadily growing as finds are made, though, and maybe someday soon we’ll know more. Shipley takes the reader on a tour of the finds we have got, focusing each chapter on a single find or site to tease out what it says about the Etruscans on various topics, including the position of women in their society (often portrayed as rather egalitarian). I enjoyed it very much: Shipley writes well and makes her points very clearly. It helps that the book has a lot of colour photographs as well, and the finds are well-chosen: I love the “Sarcophagus of the Spouses”, in particular.

Definitely what I was looking for. I wonder how good the other books in this series are…

[Celia Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

對這本書的感覺還不錯
雖然這書goodread 豆瓣的評分都一般
本身對伊特魯里亞人沒有甚麼認識
這書算是一個beginners’ guide
這書每一個章節都用一件文物去介紹有關伊特魯里亞人的一個題目
有些挺特別的題目例如女性，性愛的考古
這書還介紹了好些在意大利的景點博物館
簡直可以充當travel guide
有一個奇怪的地方
就是作者從考古和歷史中加插了很多個人觀點
把話題拉到很遠
例如現今的政治女性權益等等
不是好能明白個中關係

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay overview of the Etruscan world. I felt however that in an effort to flesh out her narrative, the author goes on far too many diatribes of little relevance to the subject -- discussing Etruscan imagery in the movie 'The Omen', for example, or that Napoleon's brother (in law? My eyes glazed over) was an important figure in the resurgence of interest in things Etruscan, which went on for multiple pages. Mildly interesting, but it ultimately felt like a space-filler. For such a nice publication, and for a culture which is almost entirely represented by its material culture, I would have thought there'd be more images to examine, especially given multiple instances when the author's descriptions were lacking and her claims that arguments were 'undeniably' true when I wasn't remotely convinced. Finally, her blanket acceptance that images would mean the same to a modern audience as they would have to the intended audience cries for the intervention of semiotic theory, but I admit that may be a higher level method than was intended for her general audience. Still, if you have no prior knowledge of the Etruscans and are looking for a light read, this is a good place to start.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely! My review is a little bit the opposite of Sarah's below, because I felt that the general outline of Etruscan history were a bit bare bones. I had to read the wikipedia page, along with looking up a lot online as I read since I felt the basic information was not there. I also purchased another book on Etruscan history--Getty publication-- in order to gain a basic understanding of the history. But in doing so, I came back to Shipley's book and found it really stimulating!! This book is so much more than a history of the Etruscans and instead is a meta-look at the way we tend to look back at history through our own modern predilections and biases. Shipley is very interesting especially on feminist issues and Orientalizing.

For example, finding a human remain in a rich Etruscan tomb, the body was found with many treasures including holding a big spear--bured with the weapon-- scholars assumed it was a man.... much later it was discovered through DNA analyses to be a female and scholars simply could not wrap their mind around the idea that an ancient woman would be buried with a spear and so came up with all kinds of kooky---and totally unfounded reasons and theories for the spear.. must have been religious or maybe she was a weaver..! But in fact, Etruscan women were known to be strong... their were portrayed side by side with men, at the banquets, drinking alcohol and as leaders. This was much remarked on by ancient Romans and this trope of the aggressive and sexually promiscuous Etruscan woman was even alluded to in Shakespeare plays!

Etruscans came to be seen as the other --to the "native" Italians... From the Enlightenment onward, not only the French and Germans, but Italians as well claimed to be inheritors of Enlightenment rationalism, republicanism, democracy --and prided themselves as the descendants of ancient Greece and Rome. And much like Herodotus did in the portrayal of the "Other" in the form of the Persian civilization, so too did the Italians do with the Etruscans, casting them in terms of "eastern indolence against western self determinism." We see this all the way down to the days of Napoleon in Egypt. This included: passive acceptance of outside authority, cultural stasis, the luxurious lives of a corrupt elite in contrast to the superiority of French values.

In is a much repeated old pattern in the European and American mindset.

Casting the Etruscans as Anatolian barbarians in Europe is an old trope to be sure (I remember it from my childhood). Interesting for me to read Shipley's book, which takes into account very recent DNA evidence which places the Etruscans in a very different light as original inhabitants of Tuscany--their DNA does not point to their being immigrants from the Near East (or Hungary--Hungary, isn't it always the place of mystery?) Their DNA --as well as linguistic analysis--seems to point to them as being natives from NEOLITHIC times to Italy... language, however, is agglutinative like Turkish or Japanese... alphabet like Phoenician. 90% of our Latin alphabet is derivative of Phoenician and Etruscan. Genetically at least, they have something in common with an island I have never heard of near Corsica and a small region in Switzerland I have also never hear of. So in all probability, they have been in that part of Italy since at least 7,000 BC! Wow, right?

Finally, I LOVED the chapter of DH Lawrence... how he became enamored by what he perceived to be the open sexuality of the people... and saw them as a breath of fresh air compared to fascism of Rome and Mussolini (Mussolini who so admired the ancient Roman empire) Going to read Lawrence's Etruscan Places next...

Loved Shipley's book --part of the Lost Civilizations series-- and highly recommend it!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to learn about the Etruscan culture and got a heavy dose of the author’s theories about civilization.

[Stan Prager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of: The Etruscans: Lost Civilizations, by Lucy Shipley
by Stan Prager (11-22-20)


When I visited New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art some years ago, the object I found most stunning was the “Monteleone Chariot,” a sixth century Etruscan bronze chariot inlaid with ivory. I stood staring at it, transfixed, long enough for my wife to shuffle her feet impatiently. Still I lingered, dwelling on every detail, especially the panels depicting episodes from the life of Homeric hero Achilles. By that time, I had read The Iliad more than once, and had long been immersed in studies of ancient Greece. How was it then, I wondered, that I could speak knowledgeably about Solon and Pisistratus, but yet know so little about the Etruscans who crafted that chariot in the same century those notables walked the earth?
Long before anyone had heard of the Romans, city-states of Etruria dominated the Italian peninsula—and, along with Carthage and a handful of Greek poleis—the central Mediterranean, as well. Later, Rome would absorb, crush or colonize all of them. In the case of the Etruscans, it was to be a little of each. And somehow, somewhat incongruously, over the millennia Etruscan civilization—or at least what the living, breathing Etruscans would have recognized as such—has been lost to us. But not lost in the way we usually think of “lost civilizations,” like Teotihuacan, for instance, or the Indus Valley, where what remains are ruins of a vanished culture that disappeared from living memory, an undeciphered script, and even the uncertain ethnicity of its inhabitants. The Etruscans, on the other hand, were never forgotten, their alphabet can be read although their language largely defies translation, and their DNA lingers in at least some present-day Italians. Yet, by all accounts they are nevertheless lost, and tantalizingly so.
Such a conundrum breeds frustration, of course: Romans supplanted the Etruscans but hardly exterminated them. Moreover, unlike other civilizations deemed “lost to history,” the Etruscans appear in ancient texts going as far back as Hesiod. There are also hundreds of excavated tombs, rich with decorative art and grave goods, the latter top-heavy with Greek imports they clearly treasured. So how can we know so much about the Etruscans and at the same time so little? Fortunately, Lucy Shipley, who holds a PhD in Etruscan archaeology, comes to a rescue of sorts with her well-written, delightful contribution to the scholarship, entitled simply The Etruscans, a volume in the digest-sized Lost Civilization series published by Reaktion Books.
Most Etruscan studies are dominated by discussions of the ancient sources and—most prominently—the tombs, which are nothing short of magnificent. But where does that lead us? Herodotus references the Etruscans, as does Livy. But are the sources reliable? Rather dubious, as it turns out. Herodotus may be a dependable chronicler of the Hellenes, but anyone who has read his comically misguided account of Egyptian life and culture is aware how far he can stray from reality. And Roman authors such as Livy routinely trumped a decidedly negative perspective, most evident in disdainful memories of the unwelcome semi-legendary Etruscan kings that are said to have ruled Rome until the overthrow of “Tarquin the Proud” in 509 BCE.
Then there are the tombs. Attempts to extrapolate what ancient life was like from the art that decorates the tombs of the dead—awe inspiring as it may be—can present a distorted picture (pun fully intended!) that ignores all but the wealthiest elite slice of the population. Much like Egyptology’s one-time obsession for pyramids and the pharaoh’s list tended to obscure the no less interesting lives of the non-royal—such as those of the workers who collected daily beer rations and left graffiti within the walls of pyramids they constructed—the emphasis on tombs that is standard to Etruscan studies reveals little of the lives of the vast majority of ordinary folks that peopled their world.
Shipley neatly sidesteps these traditional traps by failing to be constrained by them. Instead, she relies on her training as an archaeologist to ask questions: what do we know about the Etruscans and how do we know it? And, perhaps more critically: what don’t we know and why don’t we know it? In the process, she brings a surprisingly fresh look to an enigmatic people in a highly readable narrative suitable to both academic and popular audiences. Arranged thematically rather than chronologically, the author selects a specific artifact or site for each chapter to serve as a visual trigger for the discussion. Because Shipley is so talented with a pen, it is worth pausing to let her explain her methodology in her own words:

Why focus on the archaeology? Because it is the very materiality, the physicality, the toughness and durability of things and the way they insidiously slip and slide into every corner of our lives that makes them so compelling … We are continually making and remaking ourselves, with the help of things. I would argue that the past is no different in this respect. It’s through things that we can get at the people who made, used and ultimately discarded them—their projects of self-production are as wrapped up in stuff as our own. And always, wrapped up in these things, are fundamental questions about how we choose to be in the world, questions that structure our actions and reactions, questions that change and challenge how we think and what we feel. Questions and objects—the two mainstays of human experience. [p19-20]

Shipley’s approach succeeds masterfully. Because many of these objects—critical artifacts for the archaeologist but often also spectacular works of art for the casual observer—are rendered in full color in this striking edition, the reader is instantly hooked: effortlessly chasing the author’s captivating prose down a host of intriguing rabbit holes in pursuit of answers to the questions she has mated with these objects. Along the way, she showcases the latest scholarship with a concise treatment of a broad range of topics informed by the kind of multi-disciplinary research that defines twenty-first century historical inquiry.
This includes DNA studies of both cattle and human populations in an attempt to resolve the long debate over Etruscan origins. While Herodotus and legions of other ancient and modern detectives have long pointed to legendary migrations from Anatolia, it turns out that the Etruscans are likely autochthonous, speaking a pre-Indo European language that may possibly be related to the one spoken by Ötzi, the mummified iceman, thousands of years ago. Shipley also takes the time to explain how it is that we can read enough of the Etruscan alphabet to decipher proper names while remaining otherwise frustrated in efforts aimed at meaningful translation. Much that we identify as Roman was borrowed from Etruria, but as Rome assimilated the Etruscans over the centuries, their language was left behind. Later, Etruscan literature—like all too much of the classical world—fell victim to the zeal of early Christians in campaigns to purge any remnants of paganism. Most offensive in this regard were writings that described the practices of the “haruspex,” a specialist who sought to divine the future by examining the livers of sacrificial animals, an Etruscan ritual later integrated into Roman religious practices. Texts of haruspices appear prominently in the “hit lists” drawn up by Christian thinkers Tertullian and Arnobius.
My favorite chapter is entitled “Super Rich, Invisible Poor,” which highlights the inevitable distortion that results from the attention paid to the exquisite art and grave goods of the wealthy elite at the expense of the sizeable majority of the inhabitants of a dozen city-states comprised of numerous towns, villages and some larger cities with populations thought to number in the tens of thousands. Although, to be fair, this has hardly been deliberate: there remains a stark scarcity in the archaeological record of the teeming masses, so to speak. While it may smack of the cliché, the famous aphorism "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" should be triple underscored here! The Met’s Monteleone Chariot, originally part of an elaborate chariot burial, makes an appearance in this chapter, but perhaps far more fascinating is a look at the great complex of workshops at a site called Poggio Civitate, more than a hundred miles from Monteleone, where skilled craftspeople labored to produce a whole range of goods in the same century that chariot was fashioned. But what of those workers? There seemed to be no trace of them. You can clearly detect the author’s delight as she describes recent excavations that uncovered remains of a settlement that likely housed them. Shipley returns again and again to her stated objective of connecting the material culture to the living Etruscans who were once integral to it.
Another chapter worthy of superlatives is “Sex, Lives and Etruscans.” While it is tempting to impose modern notions of feminism on earlier peoples, Etruscan women do seem to have had claimed lives of far greater independence than their classical contemporaries in Greece and Rome. And there are also compelling hints at an openness in sexuality—including wife-sharing—that horrified ancient observers who nevertheless thrilled in recounting licentious tales of wicked Etruscan behavior! Shipley describes tomb art that depicts overt sex acts with multiple partners, while letting the reader ponder whether legendary accounts of Etruscan profligacy are given to hyperbole or not.
In addition to beautiful illustrations and an engaging narrative, this volume also features a useful map, a chronology, recommended reading, and plenty of notes. It is rare that any author can so effectively tackle a topic so wide-ranging in such a compact format, so Shipley deserves special recognition for turning out such an outstanding work. The Etruscans rightly belongs on the shelf of anyone eager to learn more about a people who certainly made a vital contribution to the history of western civilization.


Monteleone Chariot photo credit: Image is in public domain. More about the Monteleone Chariot here: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...


I reviewed other books in the Lost Civilizations series here:

Review of: The Indus: Lost Civilizations, by Andrew Robinson https://regarp.com/2017/06/23/review-...

Review of Egypt: Lost Civilizations, by Christina Riggs https://regarp.com/2019/04/13/review-...



Review of The Etruscans: Lost Civilizations, by Lucy Shipley appears here: https://regarp.com/2020/11/22/review-...

Podcast appears here: https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-f82xe-f...

[Josh Swinscoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is so far the lowest rating I have ever given a book. I have decided its only getting three stars as the book, which is on the Etruscans goes on one to many tangents. It talks about fascist italy alot which is understandable, but it starts detailing Massacres that have little to do with the Etruscans by the fascists. It goes on a massive debate on what Greek scholars described as a city. This takes away from the focus on the Etruscans which just distracts from the goal. Not only does it go on tangents, it also becomes a political work at some point, going on further tangents about political ideas from the 21st century, such as trans ideology and etc, which is something I do support, but not in the context of this work. I also dont support modern 21st century ideas being put on such ancient civilization, as they may of had ideas the same but it eont be exactly like us and shouldn't be fully labelled in the same way as we are. I started becoming reluctant to read it halfway through due to all these factors working together. When it actually talks about the Etruscans its not a bad book at all and would be a good read, but unfortunately it's half Etruscan and half everything else, I do not think I will be reading this again or recommending it to others to read. Overall I was very excited to read this book but slowly I was disillusioned with it due to al previously stated factors, so unfortunately at the end it only receives the three stars which I think is fully justified.

[Paul Manytravels · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Etruscans profoundly influenced civilization. As a maritime civilization, they incorporated the discoveries of their journeys into their own culture, art, religion, and daily life. As a warrior nation, they enjoyed the spoils of war, leaving them both wealthy and powerful. Today, little is known about them, their daily lives, beliefs, or aspirations. The artifacts they left behind reveal much about their history, but archaeologists and anthropologists turn to analysis, reasoning, and speculation to describe the civilization itself.
Fortunately, the Etruscans left behind a written language inscribed on many of the artifacts researchers examine in attempting to piece together their history. Moreover, art found on the walls of elaborate tombs gives more detail about what the Etruscans believed and how they lived.
While I do not read too many books of history about ancient or lost civilizations, few pay any attention to the way the common people lived or to the role of women within the cultures being discussed. In this book, Shipley raises questions about the lives of ordinary citizens and about the role of women within the social framework. However, in raising those questions, she also ignores the roles of children or of slaves. Every culture treats each of these groups within their culture differently.

[Sven · Rating 1 out of 5]

What this book has taught me about;
Contemporary left wing politics
Benito Mussolini's fascist regime
SS retaliation massacres
Old Italian cinema
The pitfalls of political broadsides in academic writing

What this book has taught me surprisingly little about;
The Etruscans

Actually a waste of time

[Fred · Rating 3 out of 5]

主题很散，每一个专题也只是浅尝辄止，还能随意引申。完全没有体现出伊特鲁利亚文化特点和历史变迁。（本来是很期待看到介绍伊特鲁利亚文明的书籍，毕竟国内很少译介过这个文明��）

[juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

scrumptious read, my special interest history overview love

[Jiawei He · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I'm reading a lyrical prose. Not enough information.