Josh Gates Discovery Hidden Message In Etruscan Ruins During Expedition Unkown

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 right.

Expedition Unknown dives into the mysteries of the Etruscan civilizations. They also travel to secret tunnels and Egyptian tombs and find old machines used to send secret messages during wartimes. These dangerous activities could end in glory or in doom.

What do you think of Josh Gates encountering each new daring mission with little more than curiosity and hope? Will any good come from exploring these ancient ruins, or will the Expedition Unknown team trigger unwanted and shocking consequences with their explorations?

Josh Gates is visiting a tumulus in his latest adventure, exploring Etruscan ruins. A tumulus is a tomb that is carved into the summit of a hill, which means the tomb has been cut into the top of the hill. What Josh Gates is exploring is essentially an entire hill being reserved and used as a mausoleum for an entire family from this ancient civilization. There are tombs carved all along the sides of the tumulus, and then there is the principal tomb—the grandest of them all—which would have been reserved for the leader of the family or the founder of a dynasty. A place of great esteem.

As they enter the tumulus, they walk along its high walls with various doorways carved into the walls. There is a big passageway that leads into the main tomb, but it is clear to see that it is carved into the summit of the hillside, and then blocks were added to build up the top sections and create a more impressive showing, an aura to the building.

A tumulus—it’s a tomb cut into the summit of a hill, literally cut into the top of the hill. They both agree it feels suitably like what a big boss would have as a tomb. Josh learns that a big boss from the 7th century BC was buried in this main passageway that they are about to enter and explore. As they duck down through the carved stone passages, there are signs of carvings on the walls of what life may have been like through art. They had even added small details on the inside with carved columns lending royal air to the tomb of this important figure who lived centuries ago.

Josh Gates comments on how impressive and magnificent these tombs must have looked when they were first built, given how they have held up after all that time. Josh’s guide paints a vivid picture of what the area must have looked like in its heyday. “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.” He describes how these tombs would crown the hilltops of the necropolis surrounding the city of the living—a monument to the past as they push forward into the future.

Such a hilltop still exists unruined by time in Cater, Italy. There, they have stone walls and ceilings that have been carved to look like wooden beams, benches, long hallways, and detailed reliefs on the walls. There is even a carving of a book on a nightstand that provides evidence that the Etruscans had literature in their society. Those tombs, like the ones seen in Tarquinia and even the sewers under the city, had been looted. Yet, while they still have some items and sculptures that once had a place inside these tombs, for instance, two griffins guarded the entrance of the tomb and painted a picture of the high status of the person buried there.

As Josh looks around, he says that the tomb is fit for a king. “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.” David is determined to find undisturbed burials on this site, which could contain descriptions that could unlock the Etruscan language as well as engraved goods that could explain more about their culture and origins.

However, as it turns out, even some of the tombs that had been raided and trespassed on had been empty. David explains that right under their feet is an old funerary path that leads to a route that takes them all along the side of a row of tombs, and he points out each new tomb, which looks like a small window sticking out of the side of a hill. Josh is astonished as he comments that he would have never noticed the tombs covered by grass, wood leaves, and trees.

David explains that the tomb covered in foliage is a good example of what they would discover when they first encountered these ancient tombs. Josh asks why the tombs are not fully covered, and David explains that at some point in the past, somebody had broken into the tomb by removing the stone, which acted as a seal or door. It has been looted before; however, it has not been excavated.

“So, it’s been looted, but has it been excavated?” Josh asks.

“It has not been excavated,” David responds. “But typically, the looters leave a wealth of information inside the tomb for us to document.”

David explains that typically, looters would leave a wealth of information behind and leave plenty for these researchers to document, even if they could not retrieve whatever valuables the dead had been buried with.

David then asks Josh if he would be interested in entering the tomb, to which Josh replies that no, he would not, as he suspects there are spiders inside the tomb. David tries to interest him by adding that there is great scientific potential to be found inside and begins to climb inside. But Josh’s protests are ignored. As Josh tumbles in, he is amazed as he points out the many features of the tomb, pointing out the two beds lying there, carved from stone. David points out immediately the scatterings of bone on one of the stone beds. Josh is horrified to realize that all the white pieces they see are not stones but human bones.

The ancient remains were not deliberately damaged but likely shattered after the tomb was looted. David explains that the dark bits that Josh is looking at are pieces of bronze, likely decorative elements that they would have been wearing. They speculate it could have been a breastplate. Josh knows that these people would have been laid to rest wearing their finest clothes.

Josh is shocked when they find a human tooth amongst the scattered remains of this ancient person. The Etruscan tooth is more than just a piece of pottery left behind, and David claims that this is important data that they can run many tests and analyses on. They will learn about the health, diet, migrations, and origins of the Etruscans.

Josh notes that the origins of these people are a huge question that remains unanswered. He explains that the Etruscans do seem to have been a culture that just appeared out of nowhere, and people have been debating their origins since ancient times. From the writings of the Romans and Greeks, they looked upon the Etruscans as some kind of exotic culture that could not have come from the Italian Peninsula.

From their writings, the Romans and Greeks looked at the Etruscans as an exotic culture that could not have been from the Italian Peninsula. The Roman writer Livy speculated they could have come from Turkey, home of the Trojans. Others speculated they must have originated from Greece. But because the Etruscan language did not survive, they have never been able to speak for their roots.

According to David, there has been an increasing number of genetic studies that use modern populations and ancient populations that could show them where the Etruscan populations came from. Recently, scientists gathered ancient remains from the Etruscans to compare the DNA against other ancient and modern peoples. David explains that they learned these people were from here—the Italian Peninsula. They were from the middle of Italy, so they never came from anywhere else; they were indigenous Italians.

A breakthrough! However, we are left with more questions than answers. David does not believe the story is fully known just yet. To know who the Etruscans were and why they fell to Rome, archaeologists need unlooted tombs. Unfortunately, every burial that David’s team has found to date has been robbed, and the tombs are difficult to find since they are so overgrown and buried, hidden amongst the landscape.

Because of these difficulties, they need some high-tech help. David introduces Josh to Forest, Lauren, and Natalie, who works with Larusa, whom Josh has worked with before in different locations with other members of the family. Josh remembers making the lady’s brother throw up in a helicopter.

David is quite excited about the plan they have in place here since the LAR (a drone) will get them through the trees. The LAR drone will peer down and scan amongst the trees far quicker than a human could. Forest Briggs, with Lar USA, says that they will be scanning around 250 acres. It will take the drone 15 minutes to do all of that work, and it will collect millions of data points. The drone takes off into the sky and scans a pre-programmed route that covers the same territory that would normally take years to explore on foot.

Josh says that the really mysterious thing about the Etruscans is that the more they learn, the more they realize they were a very robust civilization—politically intelligent, trading far and wide, innovative—and yet they have been forgotten, with little left behind them. Politically smart, they were trading far and wide, innovative, and yet it seems today like they’ve just vanished off the face of the earth.

David explains that if he were to say who would have been the most successful civilization in Italy around 500 BC, he would name the Etruscans—not the Romans.

Josh wants to know why the Etruscans were not able to stand up to Rome in the end, and David explains that the city-state division may have worked against them, as the internal rivalries and feuds of the nobility may have been what weakened them when facing a united force like the Romans. David explains that the Etruscans were a league of 12 independent city-states that did not always support each other militarily when it came down to war. Josh recognizes this old lesson that unity is much more powerful than division.

By the time Rome had managed to form itself into a threat, the Etruscans were too late and too divided to stand against them. The drone finishes its program and touches down. The data is retrieved and extracted, ready to be processed by their computer.

This is the moment they find out whether any untouched burial tombs from over 3,000 years ago are left for their research. The computer shows them the whole plateau with the surrounding hillsides; however, there are no untouched tombs located at this site. Finding one could mean finding inscriptions and artifacts that could tell them about their long-lost language.

Josh Gates and a team of archaeologists are exploring near the surface of a newly discovered burial shaft. They have just uncovered a coffin that is thousands of years old. As they move aside a ton of dirt and sand, they realize the coffin is very small, likely belonging to a baby.

“It’s small—is it, you think, a baby coffin?”

“Yes, the measurements could be… a baby coffin.”

They also realize that the coffin is sealed, meaning that the human remains are well-preserved. The burial shaft they are working on appears to be from a different period, while the baby coffin was an addition made years later. Josh Gates can reason that because the small coffin was placed against the outside of the rich Old Kingdom burial shaft and burial offering, it was added after the mysterious collapse of the Old Kingdom.

The deceased child’s family would have wanted their child to go to the afterlife. So, because they were not able to build their tomb, they used the edge of someone else’s. The team carefully excavates all around the coffin, taking great care not to damage anything as the desert’s winds start to blow sand everywhere. The workers then move the operation back inside a tent away from the elements.

The rest of the team, along with Josh, remain outside tending to the coffin. They find a gold piece that once belonged to a necklace amongst the sand surrounding the small coffin. They then begin to uncover something more as they dig around the area, uncovering ancient pottery, which is carefully pulled out of the sand. The jug is painted, as faint lines can still be seen around its exterior. They decide to move it into the tent so that the wind will not damage it. The vase was hundreds of years newer than the burial shaft and likely from the New Kingdom. Josh speculates that it was likely meant to accompany the child’s coffin into the afterlife.

The next thing they uncover is a basket—or the remains of one. Josh analyzes the amazing craftsmanship and delicacy that it would have taken to craft such a basket that would survive thousands of years. What is left of it is the base and the lid, and it is quickly carried into the tent nearby. The wind starts getting stronger, so the team races to get everything into a safe area. To help them, they bring in straps and a stretcher to carefully raise the coffin and carry it away. Josh becomes one of the pallbearers for this child who died thousands of years ago.

When they place the coffin on a table inside the tent, it’s in a really bad state of preservation. “Yeah, moisture,” they say. “Water got in here, it looks like.” They all place face masks on to protect themselves from ancient spores and dust. They open the coffin to reveal a small skeleton whose preservation looks very bad, as moisture has made its way inside at some point. They can see the signs of water damage on the walls of the coffin. The child is lying on their side, and they begin to look around for signs of a small amulet that was typically placed in coffins amongst the remains. They find an earring made of ivory, so they believe they have a young girl.

Josh starts feeling paranoid as the storm picks up. They open this ancient tomb next, and they find a ton of beads in the coffin, likely from a necklace whose thread has long disintegrated. They pull out beautiful bright turquoise beads made of ceramic and quartz, then glazed. They carefully gather the loose beads for the archaeologist to conserve and perhaps reconstruct someday.

As they look around the coffin, they realize all of the rotted material over the bones is linen, meaning the young girl would have been mummified. The child they have unearthed is a mummy. They can see how she would have been completely wrapped in linen.