As regards Etruria, it will be seen that the art of the people was largely imitative, being derived mainly from Greece, but in some measure also from the East. Few remains of their productions have reached the present day, with the exception of large numbers of vases, bronzes, and jewellery; these, however, afford a very clear notion of the characteristics of Etruscan art. It is hardly possible to treat the subject of working in clay in Etruria with such fulness as can be done in the case of Greece and Rome, owing to the greater dearth of literature; but in our previous chapter (III.) on this subject much has already been said with reference to what is known on this head. In regard to the pottery, careful scientific excavations, such as those undertaken by M. Gsell at Vulci (Vol. I. p. 77), have done much to increase our knowledge of all periods, and to place chronological certainty within the reach of the inquirer. In dealing with the history of art in Italy, we are naturally first met with two questions: (1) Who were the earliest inhabitants of the country, particularly in the region afterwards known as Etruria, in which the first signs of artistic development appear? (2) At what period and from what quarter did the Etruscans occupy this region, or are they aboriginal? It will therefore be necessary to devote a few preliminary paragraphs to these much-debated questions,[2246] in order to gain a better understanding of the subsequent history. The question of the origin of the Etruscans, to take the second first, is as old as Herodotos.[2247] As is well known, the Father of History held to the view that they originally came from Lydia, a view which found general support in antiquity, and is referred to by Horace,[2248] and many other writers. His fellow-townsman Dionysios was, however, of the opinion that they were autochthonous.[2249] However much of truth there may be in either of these theories, the fact remains that with certain modifications each of the two alternatives has found supporters even down to the present day, though to Niebuhr first is due the suggestion that the immigration of the Etruscans was by land and not by sea, and that they came from Central Europe by way of the Rhaetian Alps. He has been followed by most writers since—above all by Mommsen, who was the first to point out the absurdity of identifying the Lydian Τυρρηνοί or Τυρρηβοί with the Italian _Tusci_ or _Etrusci_. It follows from this that the whole of the civilisation of Northern and Central Italy is due to this race, which would obviously have left its impress on each district as it passed through it; and, secondly, that it was this same race that was afterwards known by the name of Etruscan.