Re: Cattle DNA supports Anatolian origin for Etruscans

The Theran eruption was in 1628 BCE. From the ruins that have been
excavated so far, it looks like everyone left.
But it didnt take 400 years to go from Thera to Tuscany.

I grant that the matriarchic traditions, art, and technology all
demonstrate a Minoan connection.

I read that Tuscany had important bronze age mining operations, so
certainly, those would have received some Theran refugees, and if they
simply stayed in the mining business, which was so localized it was
easy to defend, and stayed out of the farming business, there would
not have been enough remains in the general area to suggest that they
were even there.

I also read that the Etruscans were an elite. With metallurgic skill,
what we'd expect. The posted point that they were driven out of the Po
valley by later invasions from the North certainly fits a pattern well
recorded in Roman times. I think we can also safely conclude that the
various indigenous tribes in Tuscany when a few Minoan refugees arrive
were chronically at war. Machiavelli comments that the only time the
Italians had any peace, was when the French King threatened to invade.

So- I can see the Minoan metalurgists in the weapons and armor
business, and being left pretty much alone on that account. Back in
Crete they were well known for producing knives that were as prized as
Bowie knives now are by dudes suffering from testosterone overdose. I
also know of a Bavarian town renowned for the armor that was produced
there that was let alone during the many wars that swept across the
region because the men who could afford first class armor didnt want
that supply interrupted.

I can see how the Minoans would have endured for generations in this
regard until there was a really devastating war among the hillbillies
that created a power vacuum for them to fill, and only then, as the
power elite, do we see their cultural impact on the whole area. As for
the cattle, the Minoans left us the frescoes of gymnastics with bulls.
Which suggests to me that they were using well trained docile bulls.
Which is what you'd expect people to prefer in the eras before fencing
was cheap, fast, and easy. They also wanted docile bulls to produce
docile cows... which are gonzo easier to milk. Anatolia had been in
the docile cattle business longer than anyone.

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