Old Italic

Collective term for scripts used by various peoples of the Italian peninsula (700–100 BC): Etruscan, Oscan, Umbrian, and others. Each adapted the Greek alphabet independently. The Etruscan script is the direct ancestor of Latin — a testament to Italy's diverse cultures before the Roman alphabet spread worldwide. The Etruscan script can be read, but the Etruscan language itself remains not fully decoded — one of the great linguistic mysteries of the ancient world.