- Luciano Agostiniani –
GEOGRAPHICAL AND
CHRONOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTIONGeographically, the inscriptions are distributed in an area that includes Etruria proper
and the areas of Etruscan expansion: Campania (Capua, Suessula, Nola), Emilia-
Romagna (Piacenza, Bologna, Ravenna, Adria, Spina), Lombardy, Corsica (Aleria). Other
inscriptions are regionally eccentric, and should probably be considered the result of a
sporadic and occasional presence of Etruscans: thus the funerary stele of the late sixth
century bc found at Busca in Piedmont, Li 1.1, and the “tessera hospitalis” (“visiting
card”), also of the sixth century bc, found at Carthage (Af 3.1).
Harder to explain is the presence of a certain number of inscriptions, all of the
second half of the sixth century bc, found on the island of Lemnos in the Northern
Aegean: fi fteen graffi ti on vases, a votive offering-base of stone inscribed with a
dedication, and the funerary stele of Kaminia (Fig. 22.1), dedicated to a warrior, Holaie
Phokiaš, which mentions his age and some events in his life. The language is nothing
but a variety of Etruscan – and not a generally “Etruscoid” language as stated in the
past – characterized, it seems, by linguistic features that are more archaic than those
predictable according to the dating of the text. On the historical signifi cance of the
presence of an Etruscan inscription on Lemnos debate remains open (Agostiniani 2012):
are we dealing with Etruscans who came from Italy, perhaps in connection with trading
activities or even piracy? Or rather – as those claim who accept the hypothesis of an
origin of the Etruscans from Asia Minor, in the tradition of Herodotus – a settlement
linked to a “migration” from East to West? Undoubtedly, playing against the fi rst
hypothesis is the fact, reported by archaeologists, that on Lemnos there is no other trace
of Etruscan material culture; and it cannot be proven – as has been maintained – that
the text of the stele references institutions and usages typical of the Etruscans of Italy
(such as eponymy, the use of the metronymic or a formula with indication of the age
of the deceased).
Figure 22.1 Stele from Kaminia (Lemnos), late sixth century bc
(Athens, National Archaeological Museum).