Etruscan Artifacts: Much Ado about Nothing

Ancient DNA studies may contain artifacts due to poor preservation of the specimens, post-mortem modifications and sequencing errors. No positive proof of no contamination exists, but a standard set of laboratory criteria has been established to maximize the possibility to obtain reproducible results. In the study of the Etruscans' DNA all these criteria have been followed, and there is no evidence of massive sequencing errors. Therefore, the lack of genealogical resemblance between ancient (Etruscan) and modern Tuscany samples cannot possibly be attributed to poor quality of the ancient DNA data.