Wednesday,
February 07, 2007
Ancient Italian Lovers
The
ANNOTICO Report
Archaeologists
have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender
embrace and buried outside Mantua, just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic
city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and
Juliet."
Its
Quite unique, "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these
are even hugging.
Neolithic
Era
(aka The New Stone Age) is marked by the transition from roaming and hunting to
an agricultural
society and begins around 9000 B.C. follows the Mesolithic, and ends about 2000
BC
Ancient Lovers
are Unearthed in Italy
The
Associated Press
By Ariel David
February
7, 2007
"As far as
we know, its unique," Menotti told The Associated Press by telephone
from
Experts will now
study the artifacts and the skeletons to determine the burial sites age
and how old the two were when they died, she said.
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 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.
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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