Two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace were found by Archaeologists buried outside Mantua, only 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and Juliet." The burial site was recently located during construction work for a factory building in the outskirts of Mantua. Alongside the couple, archaeologists found flint tools, including arrowheads and a knife, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.
One hypothesis being examined is that the man was killed and the woman then sacrificed so that his soul would be accompanied in the after life.
An initial examination of the couple - dubbed the Lovers of Valdaro - revealed that the man (on the left in the picture) has an arrow in his spinal column while the woman has an arrow head in her side.
The prehistoric pair were buried between 5-6,000 years ago. They are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Menotti.
"They are face to face and their arms and legs are entwined and they are really hugging.
"I am so thrilled at this find. I have been involved in lots of digs all over Italy but nothing has excited me as much as this."
The find highlights how the relationship between people, and also between people and death, has not changed much in thousands of years.
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Awesome find, it seems like a very unique archaeological dig. I wanted to learn more about it, and tried to click the cited story link you provided but it seems to be broken. The URL links to Google Mail. Any idea why?
Here's the link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_articl…
At least one thing has changed: most places - well, maybe only some places - they don't get to kill the wife so the dead husband still gets some in the grave.
I thought it was more romantic before I heard she was killed to keep her dead husband company. That kinda sucks.
Why would you assume the woman was killed to accompany her dead husband? Maybe it was vice versa, or something else.
UPDATE: Scientists Will Save 5,000-Year-Old Embrace
Instead of removing the bones one-by-one for reassembly later, archaeologists plan to scoop up the entire section of earth where the couple was buried.
The plot will then be transported for study before being put on display in an Italian museum, thereby preserving the world's longest known hug for posterity.Archaeologists seem certain the couple died young, since their teeth are intact and that they died during the Stone Age because of an arrowhead and tools found with the remains.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/scientists-will-save-5000-year-…