Friday, February 09, 2007
Buried in love for 5000 years
THEY have lain together, locked in each other's arms, for more than 5000 years.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. "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. Luca Bondioli, an anthropologist at Rome's National Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum, said double prehistoric burials are rare - especially in such a pose - but some have been found holding hands or having other contact. 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 and learning to farm 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, possibly an indication of 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." -AOL News -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Isn't that sweet? Maybe they're THE Romeo&Juliet that Shakespeare wrote about. Buried by Friar Lawrence in an unknown site.. Hmmm. Speculation.Just thought this article made a pretty interesting read.
lying among the petals 11:03 PM
