Etruscan art (c. 1000-100 BC) was contemporary with Greek culture. This period is important in its own right because of its Greek and Roman connections. Despite the few traces that remain, we know a lot thanks to their buried tombs and their necropolises (city of the dead). From the 7th to the 5th century. BC, their greatest power was the Etruscan fleet which controlled the western Mediterranean, making Eturia an important trading nation. The fleet had established trade routes across the Aegean Sea, the Near East and North Africa and was in fact responsible for extending Greek influence into northern Italy and Spain . Like the Greeks, the Etruscans had never formed a single nation but coexisted as separate city-states. But unlike the Romans, the Etruscans never formed an empire. As we said, there is not much left of the Etruscans apart from their burials. The only traces of their lost language remain on the epitaphs. Very few Etruscan buildings still exist because the commonly used materials were wood, mud and tuff (a type of limestone). The Etruscans clearly believed in an afterlife that was closer to the Egyptian concept, but the specifics of their beliefs remain a mystery. Their burials were materialistic like ancient Egypt, as the dead were buried with items such as mirrors, jewelry, weapons, and banquet utensils. During the 7th century. BCE and earlier, cinerary containers for cremation were used (Fig. 1). They were often found in the form of a human head (Cineraria, from the Mediterranean, 600 BC). The urns were themselves containers, there were specific body markings for the different sexes. This created a generalized resemblance among all the deceased. It was a rather somber memorial to the dead. The heads were depicted with exquisite modeling...... middle of paper...... shadowed walls. The Etruscans formed the boundary between the Greeks and Romans, continuing to perpetuate Greek characteristics and laying the foundations for what would become Roman art. The burning question of the afterlife is the source of inspiration for this movement. What began as a simple container to carry the ashes of one's ancestors quickly transformed into a cultural identity. A history of Western art. New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. Book. Stockstad, Mary. History of art: third edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008. Book. An Etruscan urn puts a face on the deceased. Photographs. glyptoteket.com. Np Web. December 6, 2013.Sarcophagis of Cerveteri. Photograph. wordpress.com. WordPress, 2013. Web. December 6, 2013. Banditacca. Photograph. voyagesavecnancy.com. Np Web. December 6, 2013.