Archaeologists in Corsica have just excavated an Etruscan tomb holding both a skeleton and a large number of rare artifacts, which they believe may help them to understand more about why the ancient civilization eventually disappeared.

As Reuters reports, the Etruscans were once a very wealthy and privileged society who lived in the north of Italy and gradually gave up their identity to become part of the Roman Empire.

The Etruscan tomb that was found in Corsica has been dated, and was found to have been built sometime during the 4th century B.C. This magnificent tomb was created out of rock, and was found within part of a much larger Roman cemetery that was only just discovered earlier this year, according to The Inquisitr.

As its name suggests, the Etruscan civilization first sprang up in Tuscany around 900 B.C. and slowly fell into a period of decline, after which it disappeared completely by 100 B.C.

Archaeologists are hoping that the new Etruscan tomb in Corsica will help them to learn more about how the society would have functioned on this island, along with its gradual demise, as head curator Franck Leandri explained.

“It’s the missing link which will allow us to piece together Etruscan funerary rites, but it also reinforces the hypothesis that before the Roman conquest (in 259 B.C), Aleria was a transit point in the Tyrrhenian Sea, blending Etruscan, Carthaginian and Phocaean interests.”

Etruscan tomb in Corsica may yield secrets on civilization's decline https://t.co/6EohYNn6Av pic.twitter.com/OOaejLQuDJ — New York Post (@nypost) March 27, 2019

Archaeologists believe that the Etruscan tomb that was found in Corsica most likely held a very high-ranking official, as some of the artifacts found within it include 15 ceramic vases, along with either the lid or a mirror of a casing.

Anthropologist Catherine Rigeade has stated that while archaeologists do have some understanding of Etruscan artifacts, they are still very much in the dark about the subjects of this ancient civilization. Here on Corsica, however, multiple artifacts have now been found, which will allow archaeologists to examine Etruscan culture in much greater detail than ever before.

“We have some knowledge of Etruscan objects, but we know very little about Etruscan subjects; here we have both,” Rigeade explained.

Not far from the tomb, archaeologists unearthed a gold signet ring which was still in remarkably good condition despite the passing of thousands of years. The ring featured a dizzyingly beautiful face, which is believed to most likely be a depiction of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

Archaeologists will be examining the skeleton that was found in the Etruscan tomb in Corsica, and are reportedly planning to consult with a forensic scientist to learn more about the human remains.