Tuscania began as an Etruscan city of considerable importance, as attested by the numerous tombs and necropolises in the surrounding area, including the tomb of the Queen, the tomb of Dado, the necropolist of the Tufa altar.

The Roman conquest of Tuscania (ca. 285 B.C.E.) did not lead to the city’s decline; indeed, a number of Etruscan family tombs discovered recently contain many sarcophagi from after the conquest and reveal how the dead, normally sculpted in the traditional Etruscan pose, were decorated during the Roman period with scenes showing Hellenistic artistic influence.

The abundance of sarcophagi in the area around Tuscania has led archaeologists to suggest that the sculpting of these was a thriving element in the local economy.