Over 10,000 Etruscan inscriptions are known, but the vast majority of them are short and formulaic. Some 90 percent of these inscriptions date to the period following 400 BC, suggesting that the habit of inscription was relatively restricted until late in the Etruscan period. Many of the inscriptions were hidden rather than public and were often written on less prestigious objects such as pottery.
See also WRITING; MIRRORS.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.