Prehistoric Lovers

[girldorksrule]

I thought this was rather interesting.

Prehistoric lovers found locked in eternal embrace
POSTED: 9:15 p.m. EST, February 7, 2007


ROME, Italy (AP) -- It could be humanity's oldest story of doomed love.



Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua. The site is just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and Juliet."

Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig. (Watch archaeologists uncover the embracing couple Video)

"As far as we know, it's unique," Menotti told The Associated Press by telephone from Milan. "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these are even hugging."

The burial site was located Monday during construction work for a factory building in the outskirts of Mantua. Alongside the couple, archaeologists found flint tools, including arrowheads and a knife, Menotti said.

Experts will now study the artifacts and the skeletons to determine the burial site's age and how old the two were when they died, she said.

Although the Mantua pair strike a rare and touching pose, archaeologists have found prehistoric burials in which the dead hold hands or have other contact, said Luca Bondioli, an anthropologist at Rome's National Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum.

The find has "more of an emotional than a scientific value." But it does highlight how the relationship people have with each other and with death has not changed much from the period in which humanity first settled in villages, learning to farm the land and tame animals, he said.

"The Neolithic is a very formative period for our society," he said. "It was when the roots of our religious sentiment were formed."

The two bodies, which cuddle closely while facing each other on their sides, were probably buried at the same time, an indication of a possible sudden and tragic death, Bondioli said.

"It's rare for two young people to die at the same time, and that makes us want to know why and who they were, but it will be very difficult to find out."

He said DNA testing could determine whether the two were related, "but that still leaves other hypotheses; the Romeo and Juliet possibility is just one of many."

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The prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Skylace]

I saw this on the news last night. It is so very interesting. And it does make the imagination run.

[faceless]

maybe they were some kind of conjoined twins?

[Skylace]

[faceless]

could they not be male and female? I'm not up on conjoinity you see... haha

[IRiSHMaFIA]

The one on the right looks a lot shorter than the one on the left. If they were twins then they might be similar to ...but I'm thinking they were lovers because thats romantic and I kinda like that

[Skylace]

[Skylace]

[girldorksrule]

[eefanincan]

I really think they're not related... as in twins. If you look at the pose, it's as if the larger body is cradling the smaller one.... not a typical "twin" pose, but more of a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend thing.

I also wonder how viable the DNA will be after all these years but hopefully there's enough there that they can find out some things about these people of the past. I'm surprised nobody has nicknamed the skeletons "Romeo and Juliet" yet.

[faceless]

How about Bonio and Ostiet?

[eefanincan]

Archaeologists won't separate prehistoric couple unearthed in eternal embrace

ROME (AP) - Italy's recently discovered prehistoric couple will continue their 5,000-year-old embrace undisturbed through Valentine's Day and beyond.

The two skeletons unearthed last week will be scooped out of the earth together to undergo tests before going on display in the northern Italian city of Mantua, archaeologists said Tuesday.

This file photo provided by the Archaeological Society SAP in Mantua, northern Italy, on Wednesday, Feb, 7, 2007 shows a pair of human skeletons found Monday Feb. 6 at a construction site outside Mantua. (AP Photo/Archaeological Society SAP, ho) The pair, buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago in the late Neolithic period, are believed to be a man and a woman who died young, because their teeth were found intact. Archaeologists have hailed the find, saying that double burials from that period are rare and none have been found in such a touching pose.

The burial was unearthed on the outskirts of Mantua during construction work. The site is located just 40 kilometres south of Verona, the city where Shakespeare set the story of "Romeo and Juliet" and the discovery fuelled musings in the media about prehistoric love.

Archaeologists also said there was little doubt the couple's pose was born of a deep love, but warned it would be almost impossible to determine the exact nature of their relationship and how they died.

Mantua's archaeological office said in a statement Tuesday that, in some cases of the period, the wife would be sacrificed when her husband died and buried with him. However, the statement said that "at the current stage of research" there was no evidence that this was what happened to the Mantua pair.


After undergoing lab tests, the couple are to be displayed at Mantua's Archaeological Museum, the statement said.

The discovery was made in a region rich in Neolithic treasures, including some 30 burial sites, all single, as well as the remains of prosperous villages filled with artifacts made of flint, pottery and animal horns.

[girldorksrule]

[eefanincan]

[girldorksrule]

I think it makes sense..they are kind of snuggling with one another.