Lost Civilization Uncovered! Josh Gates Explores Etruscan Ruins | Expedition Unknown

look at this thing this is what’s known as a tumulus a tumulus it’s a tomb cut into the summit of a hill literally cut into the top of the hill that’s [Music] right so you have to imagine this being kind of the the main tomb area of a whole family and there are tombs carved in all along the outside of this tumulus and then there’s one of the biggest the principal tomb which would have been maybe for the founder of a dynasty or definitely the leader of that family group wow can we see it yeah let’s go I mean look at this place this is serious construction it’s cut out of the Hill a big passageway leading into the main tomb but you can see here how it’s carved into the summit of the Hillside and then blocks are used to build up the top and make an even

more impressive entryway this is definitely like the big bosses too the big boss in the middle of the 7th Century BC was buried right in here and what’s going going on inside let’s go see the painted Chambers we saw back in tarquinia aren’t the only type of a truskin tomb here we see them carving what life may have been like in three dimensions now this is legit look at this carved columns this is like very Regal back in the day these huge family tombs they must have looked so impressive I think they would have been magnificent crowning the hilltops of the necropolis on all the hills surrounding the city of the living absolutely unbelievable one such Hilltop still exists a nearby at truscan necropolis called cheter has Stone made to look like wood beams benches long hallways and detailed reliefs there’s even a carving of a book on a night table

eviden that the atrans once had literature but those tombs like the ones I saw at tarquinia and even the sewer here had been largely raided when this tomb was discovered it had been looted it had been looted we have some objects and some sculptures from inside for instance there were two Griffins guarding the entrance this gives you an idea of how important the individual was this really is a tomb Fit For A King very high status yeah David is determined to find undisturbed burials here at this site which may contain inscriptions that could unlock at truscan language as well as Priceless grave Goods to explain their culture and Origins but as it turns out even some of the tombs that have been broken into aren’t totally empty right under our feet is an old funerary path that leads along the side of a row of tombs there’s one here uhhuh

and there’s another one here oh wow look at this I mean I would never have seen this just totally filled up and overgrown this is a good example of what the tombs look like when we first encountered them so why isn’t this fully covered because at some point in the past somebody broke into this tomb by removing the top block of the doorway so it’s been looted has it been excavated it has not been excavated but typically the looters leave a wealth of information inside the tomb for us to document okay do you want to go in no there’s science in there no there’s spiders in there dude spiders and signs yeah but a lot of spiders let’s go you’re going first though all right spiders or not we’re going in all right here we go [Music] this is horrible okay I’m in wow this is awesome in here actually

Okay so we’ve got two beds here with these kind of lower bunks carved out here that’s right there’s room for two on each side here to be laid out each tomb has its own particularities all right well let’s have a look around yeah oh wow Josh look over here what do you have there’s just bone everywhere here just littered all over this bed all these little white flakes that we see here this big piece that’s all human bone that’s right these remains weren’t deliberately damaged chances are the ancient brittle bones shattered as the tomb was being looted what is that that dark thing this is a piece of of of bronze wow look at that what do you think this is from I think it would have been a decorative element perhaps like something they were wearing yeah probably a a breastplate maybe part of a

belt these people would have been laid out here wearing their best right they would have been laid to rest in their finest clothes right look at that is the tooth a Moler oh my word that is a tooth that is a human tooth that is an at truskin tooth right there not just a trace of Pottery now not just the trace of their architecture but actually the remains of an individual that’s right and this is important data we can do a series of analyses on Bones like this that’ll tell us about the life and the diet the health the migrations and the origins of the at truskin this is a big question their their Origins right right because they do seem to us to be this culture that just kind of comes out of nowhere and people have been debating their Origins since ancient times right that’s

right from their writings the Roman rans and Greeks looked at the atrans as an exotic culture that could not have been from the Italian Peninsula the Roman writer Livy speculated they were from Turkey home of the mighty Trojans others thought they were originally from Greece but because the at truscan language hasn’t survived they’ve never been able to speak for themselves recently there’s been an increasing number of genetic studies both using modern populations and ancient populations okay and those studies may show show us where the at truskin were really from Recently scientists gathered genetic information from the ancient remains of 82 at truskin to compare the DNA against other ancient and modern peoples okay so where are they really from here on the Italian peninsula in the middle of Italy so they’re not from somewhere else at all it doesn’t seem that way so they’re just part of this

landscape literally they’re from here they’re Italians they’re Italians they’re from here identifying the origins of the at truskin is a major win but even with these human remains we’re left with more questions than answers right here in front of us we have in many pieces an at truscan an individual I don’t think the story is fully told in order to fully know who the atrans were and why they fell to Rome archaeologists need unlooted tombs but every burial David’s team has found to date has been robbed and the tombs are hard to locate since they’re overgrown buried or hidden along steep cliffs in other words we need some high-tech help Josh this is Forest Laura and Natalie from lar USA I’m very familiar with lar USA I’ve worked with your company before yes you have you worked with our dad Jeff in Rowan Oak that’s right and my

brother Daniel in Guatemala yes at alador I think I made your brother throw up in helicopter MH sometimes science is puky he’s okay now he’s fine he’s fine he’s recovered okay sorry about that sorry and here we are again yes so okay talk to me what’s what’s the plan here I’m excited about this because this is as you’ve seen a very hard site very challenging to actually see what’s on the surface lot of Hills lot of vegetation that’s right the liar will get us through those trees right the plan is for the liar to peer down and image any additional cavities around the site targets for potentially unlooted tombs and what kind of area are we going to be scanning here today so we’re looking at somewhere around 250 Acres 250 acres is a lot and that will take this drone how long about 15 minutes 15

minutes and in that 15 minutes or so how many data points will this collect millions millions it doesn’t make any sense are you ready to fly Forest I’m ready all right let’s do [Music] it she’s alive the Drone hovers in the air scanning along a pre-programmed route that will cover the same territory it would take years to explore on foot the really mysterious thing about the at truskin is that the more you learn about them the more you understand that they were this really robust civilization right they were politically smart they were trading far and wide they were Innovative and yet it seems today like they’ve just vanished off the face of the earth I mean if I were to bet let’s say around 500 BC what would be the most successful culture in Italy it would be the at truskin definitely not the Romans why is it do you think in

the end that the atesin couldn’t stand up to Rome I think the city-state division may have worked against them there are rivalries between the nobilities may actually in the end have weakened them when they were faced with a power strong as Rome right and they were a divided group they were these independent city states a league of 12 but not always supporting each other militarily when it came down to it right it’s an age-old lesson united we stand divided we fall by the time Rome grew into a threat the at truskin weren’t cohesive enough to withstand them while David and I Ponder the past the Drone finishes its program and gently touches down nice flying by the way thank you you excited oh man let’s get this data once the data is extracted from the Drone it’s time to process it through the computer to see if this Forest has

been hiding some intact at truscan tombs for over 3,000 years look at that it’s the whole Plateau with the surrounding hillsides that is so cool no unlooted at truscan tombs have been found at this site locating one could mean finding historic artifacts or inscriptions that could help decipher their lost language for