The family over time (the descent group or gentilicium) formed the essential building block of Etruscan social class. Study of human bones (e.g., from the Ferrone cemetery) suggests a high degree of marrying within a tight genetic group. More specifically, the family constructed, fabricated (through fictive kin), maintained, and elaborated the family tomb, which was the expression of family achievement through grave goods, painting, elogia, and, no doubt, lost written accounts.
See also MARRIAGE.
Historical Dictionary of the Etruscans. Simon K. F. Stoddart.