teroknortailor:

Two Etruscan sarcophagi found in the same tomb – the one on the left depicts an older married couple, and the more refined one on the right (carved later) depicts their child, also married. The Etruscans had a unique relationship with death, and are one of the first cultures to immortalize their deceased in highly detailed sculptures that rested atop their sarcophagi. However, unlike any other culture, the deceased were often depicted as a loving couple, actively embracing each other in death, thus immortalizing the emotional bond between the personalities of the two. This tenderness was unfortunately lost in later years as the Etruscan people were absorbed by the burgeoning Roman Empire. Their culture remains as a fascinating, if not mysterious, glimpse into a deeply emotional people whose culture developed parallel to, yet much differently than that of Ancient Greece.