As in the rest of Italy, the inhabitants of Murlo has been influenced by people settling from other areas of the country and abroad, and has reached a population of two thousand inhabitants, grouped in the two main centres of Vescovado and Casciano di Murlo, and scattered among various other small villages like Murlo, Lupompesi, Miniere, Casanova, Fontazzi, Montepescini and isolated farmhouses.
But for centuries Murlo has been isolated from the main thoroughfares, invasions, traffic and sieges, and its feudal history under the Bishops of Siena, who governed it for 7 centuries, resulted in its population being segregated and out of touch with the surrounding areas. This was what convinced a team of researchers from Turin university in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s to carry out a detailed comparative study on the DNA of the native inhabitants, proving that the DNA of the ancient Etruscans makes up a large part of what is flowing in their veins. This research has been confirmed by a more updated one in 2007 (The American Journal of Genetics, 2007).
The resemblance of the features and profiles of some local people to Etruscan statues and paintings is staggering; smiles, eyes, noses are identical and cannot but confirm this theory.
People of Murlo, pure Etruscans