ABSTRACT
The great cemeteries or necropolises adjacent to the major Etruscan cities such as Cerveteri and Tarquinia are the most visible relics of this civilization. Etruscan specialists are increasingly recognizing that understanding the countryside is fundamental to any study of the development of Etruscan urbanism and city state territories and of the functioning of the Etruscan socioeconomic system. One of the most effective ways by which the people can study ancient settlement systems in most parts of the Mediterranean landscape is by "field survey" or systematic field walking. Survey archaeologists today are divided regarding the particular advantages and disadvantages of different methods of sampling and recording of a study area and its surface archaeology. Most of the material collected has to be studied in Italy. It is, quite rightly, difficult to obtain permission to remove archeological material from Italy, and official permission may even have to be sought to move it within Italy.
