5,000 year old bones found locked in an eternal embrace

[Herman Munster]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=434454&in_page_id=1770



It is the city where the exiled Romeo dreamed he died and Juliet's kisses breathed life back into his body. Tragically, the lifeless bodies of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers would soon lie side by side. Yesterday at Mantua, in an amazing echo of that heartrending story, archaeologists revealed the discovery of a couple locked in a tender embrace, one that has endured for more than 5,000 years.

The find was unearthed by experts digging at a neolithic site at a less than romantic industrial estate. Scientists are to examine the skeletons to try to establish how old they were when they died and how long they have been buried. One theory being examined is that the man was killed and the woman then sacrificed so that his soul would be accompanied in the after life. Elena Menotti, who is leading the dig at Valdaro near Mantua in northern Italy, said: 'I am so excited about this discovery.

"We have never found a man and a woman embraced before and this is a unique find. "We have found plenty of women embracing children but never a couple. Much less a couple hugging -- and they really are hugging. It's possible that the man died first and then the woman was killed in sacrifice to accompany his soul. "From an initial examination they appear young as their teeth are not worn down but we have sent the remains to a laboratory to establish their age at the time of death.

"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." "I've been doing this job for 25 years. I've done digs at Pompeii, all the famous sites. "But I've never been so moved because this is the discovery of something special."

[slackmaster]

1. They must have perished in the Flood

Poor kids.

[DearAbby]

18. I wonder if they bothered to wave at Noah

when he went by in the ark. 5,000 yrs ago. Must have been the flood. Amazing they could hold on to each other!

[AngryAmish]

26. Well, if they died in the Flood they must have been sinners

Guess they had it coming.

[rucky]

2. Now I know what to put on my Valentine's Day card.

Great photo! Not sure how the wife'll take it, though.

[Nikki Stone1]

6. ROTFL!!

Happy Valentine's Day....You're in my bones?

:rofl: :rofl:

[Skittles]

40. "You're in my heart, you're in my bones"

yes INDEED! :D

[Canuckistanian]

21. Hahahahhahahahha

fuckin A, man. Hahahahahahahah.

Best post I've read for 2 years!

You're an artist, my good man!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Morgana LaFey]

23. Until death do us part?

Perhaps?

[helderheid]

25. Perfect. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Biometric reconstruction and artistic interpretation pic:

[Kiouni]

4. surprisingly that's an endearing photo n/t

[Canuckistanian]

24. It really is

He's got his hand on the side of her face.

They're looking directly into each other's eyes.

Their knees are interlocked.

Her hand is at the back of his head, around his neck. His is around her shoulder.

They both look.... quite comfortable.

[Kerrytravelers]

5. Wow. This is really interesting. I'd like to follow up on their findings.

It's kind of romantic, the idea of holding someone you love into death, by each other's sides.

Is that weird to see the sentiment in this?

[Cabcere]

7. If so, then I'm weird too

I see the sentiment in it, too. It is kind of romantic, in a weird way...

:hi:

[donco6]

11. I see a novel in the making as we speak.

It would be an interesting story, no?

[LynzM]

14. If that's weird to see it as sentimental...

Then count me amongst the weird. I think it's oddly touching.

[TankLV]

15. unless you were forced to by way of sacrifice...

kinda leaves the "how romantic" thingy in the dust, doesn't it!

Great if it was mutually voluntary, sucks if it wasn't.

We'll really never know now, will we...

[aquart]

37. Sacrifice by an arrow in the side? Please.

And elaborately entwining corpses like that? Not as easy as you might think. There was an attack, which they must have at least escaped, although wounded, because they weren't included in whatever general cleanup and burial occurred afterward to prevent pestilence. And maybe none of their people survived long enough to look for them. But they couldn't do more than get away from the heart of the mayhem...and they were bleeding. So, weaker and weaker, they lay down, entwined, and died together, maybe within minutes of each other. I say minutes because it's hard to maintain one position all that long.

The question is, what came to cover them and prevent their bodies from being pulled apart by hungry animals?

The article is woefully inadequate. What proof do they have that this is a burial at all? Depth? Grave goods? Presence of other skeletons indicating this is a burial ground?

[dalaigh lllama]

41. Your hypothesis makes much more sense

Assuming she was sacrificed to be with him in death with an arrow in her side seems like an extreme projection of male dominated cultural mores. It would seem more likely that they fought side by side and then died side by side. It'd be fascinating to see the context of the site, as you noted.

[Hekate]

35. Someone agreed with you all that time ago, and arranged the lovers in death

It is a tender scene.

And yes, I am aware that many important men's graves included wives, servants, and favorite horses, as well as artifacts like bowls and swords. The living were sacrificed to accompany the dead to the other world; not an attractive cultural feature imo.

But there appear to be no grave goods here, so it's hard to know. Perhaps another poster is correct and the arrowheads that killed them are from a raid. Examination of the remains will tell more.

Someone arranged their bodies -- two lovers in tender embrace, cut down before their time.

Hekate

[aquart]

53. I really, really, really doubt that pose was arranged.

What they remind me of are the people of Pompeii, some of whom held each other tightly as the dust and steam engulfed them, and then the lava.

The question isn't the pose, it's why and how the skeletons survived in the position. And the archaeologists haven't bothered to be professional enough to answer.

[Deja Q]

8. Did the one on the left ask his friend "May I jump your bones?"

:yoiks:

[Olney Blue]

12. LOL

[Cabcere]

16. Ohhh, that's bad.

:spray: Wish I'd thought of it! :hi:

[slowry]

39. Too soon. n/t

[MrSlayer]

9. 5,000 years? It must be Adam and Eve.

Since it is the dawn of time and all.

[Deja Q]

10. Better count the number of ribs, it might be Adam and Steve...

Once again, time to ask that question about jumpin' one's bones...
:yoiks:

[1620rock]

17. Love is eternal. n/t

[Deja Q]

19. Unless it ends in divorce, or in this case

both of them strangling each other to death... I had no idea "Til death do us part" seemed to gruesome... :wow:

[rucky]

32. Is that a petrified Snickers bar I see between them? n/t

[klook]

28. Har.

Maybe they were crushed when a dinosaur fell on them.

[Deja Q]

31. Maybe the dino farted and the hear melted their skin off?

:yoiks:

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. Looks like pair of Ann Coulters.

More seriously, that is really an intersting find.

[NNadir]

20. They say that romance can die, can become skeletal.

No bones about it though, of corpse love is something more than a matter of the flesh. No matter how long you sleep with someone, you can't let the old feelings rot or become fossilized. I'm going to take some ribbing about this, but I'm dead serious. I would submit that nothing about this love can be permanently buried. Their feelings are going to surface.

Here we see that love can lead to eternal togetherness, without a single thought of splitting up.

[Gatchaman]

22. So, is it really an eternal embrace

or did the archeologists rip them to pieces as they yanked their bones out of the ground?

At least they took a picture first.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

36. ripped them apart and taken away to be examined.

So much for eternity.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

42. That was my thought as well...why did they have to separate them?

Science is one thing, but these people, when they were alive, chose to be together for eternity, so why should we be allowed to destroy their final wish?

Geesh. No valentine's card from me for these grave diggers!

[Canuckistanian]

27. Which one is the male and which the female?

I say the man is on the right.

[okasha]

30. He's on the left.

The article says he had an arrowhead in his spine; she had one in her side. Probably not a funeral sacrifice then. More likely both were killed in a raid or other fighting. A pity there don't seem to be grave goods that would tell us a bit more about them.

[Canuckistanian]

33. No way.

The arrowheads are further down, where we can't see them.

No, his skull is the larger one on the right.

[Bluebear]

29. "Your shroud or mine, baby?"

:)

[Nevernose]

34. They probably died choking each other...

...and were then covered in a layer of volcanic ash that wiped out their entire families. The SURVIVING family members that is, those who WEREN'T involved in the generations-long blood-feud over who-stole-who's goats.

But I'm not cynical or anything...

[DearAbby]

38. Joking aside...

My first thought was to quickly bury them again. I felt intrusive. But imgagine the information we can gain by their study.
:shrug:

[redqueen]

43. Awww I think this is sweet.

All y'all cynics are harshin my romantic buzz! :P

[uppityperson]

44. Wonder what makes them say man & woman.

Hope they can get re-buried soon.

[Rosemary2205]

45. Um, there's more than 2 sets of legs in that picture.

and the skeleton on the left looks like it has 2 sets of hips........

somethings fishy.

[B Calm]

49. Does look like that...

[Guaranteed]

51. No there isn't. The lower leg is made up of two bones, the tibia and the fibula. nt

[B Calm]

52. I knew someone would know, thanks

[MiniMandaRuth]

46. If they're moved, which they probably will be...

They should be kept in the same position that they were found in for as long as possible.

[The Straight Story]

47. UPDATE: remains of a snickers bar found in both mouths! (nt)

[H2O Man]

48. Onondaga Chief Paul Waterman:

"I did reburials at the Penn Site. Germ warfare killed them. At the Bloody Hill Site, it was small pox. Some of the burials were of parents and their children. They were holding hands. ..."

(This is from Part IV of an interview I did with Paul in Vol 20 of AHSKWA in 2002.)

[Blue-Jay]

50. Maybe they strangled each other to death.

It could be a crime scene.