It's quite likely that the aboriginal Etruscans may have evolved from the earlier Villanovan Culture. There is always a continuum. But why, amongst all the people who've wandered in and out of Italy, should we be concerned with the Etruscans?

Just visit any one of the many museums and then head for an Etruscan tomb (easily done in the Etruscan town of Chiusi). The Etruscans were running about around 2800 long years ago, yet they imported iron ore from Elba and smelted it on the coast around the modern city of Populonia, an excellent place to visit.