The ancient riddle of where the Etruscans came from has been solved, Italian scientists say.
The Etruscans, who once dominated central Italy, were so different from the other peoples of Italy that their neighbours advanced various theories about their origins.
Some said they were a very old race from their heartland in present-day Tuscany but some thought they came from as far away as northern Europe.
The Greek historian Herodotus believed, however, that they had sailed to Italy from Anatolia, in what is now south-east Turkey, fleeing a long famine.
Now a team from Turin university says Herodotus was right.
Comparing DNA from people living in what was once the Etruscan heartland in present-day Tuscany with that of today's inhabitants of Greek islands, the Middle East and other parts, a team led by Professor Alberto Piazza say they have found "a unique genetic component" shared only by central Tuscans and Turks.
"We knew that the people of Volterra and other Tuscan towns were genetically different from those in neighbouring areas," Piazza told an international genetics conference in Nice at the weekend.
"Now we have found the precise genetic variant that appears to have clinched the question of their origins".
The discovery has been backed by another recent genetic study by the University of Piacenza which found that Tuscany's cattle, famous for their uniquely tasty and hefty meat, were "60% similar" to Turkish breeds.
The Etruscans are believed to have formed the first advanced civilisation in Italy, based in an area called Etruria, corresponding mainly to present-day Tuscany and northern Lazio.
At the height of their power at around 500 BC - when Rome itself was subjugated - they spread to the foothills of the Alps and southward close to Naples.
Modern knowledge of their civilisation is based largely on archaeological finds, since much of their language has yet to be deciphered.
For many people the Etruscans have a romantic, mysterious aura and there is a raft of web sites devoted to them.
