Etruscan Etruria. The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans.Their complex culture centered on numerous city-states that arose during the Villanovan period in the ninth century BCE, and they were very powerful during the Orientalizing Archaic periods.. The Etruscans were a dominant culture in Italy by 650 BCE, surpassing other ancient Italic peoples such as the Ligures.