Maral Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 By ARIEL DAVID The Associated Press Wednesday, February 7, 2007; 11:43 PM ROME -- They died young and, by the looks of it, in love. Two 5,000-year-old skeletons found locked in an embrace near the city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale "Romeo and Juliet" have sparked theories the remains of a far more ancient love story have been found. Archaeologists unearthed the skeletons dating back to the late Neolithic period outside Mantua, 25 miles south of Verona, the city of Shakespeare's story of doomed love. This 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. Archaeologists unearthed the skeletons, believed to be a man and a woman, from the Neolithic period, buried between 5000 to 6000 years ago. It could be humanity's oldest story of doomed love. (AP Photo/Archaeological Society SAP, ho) (AP) 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, because 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." Archaeologists digging in the region have found some 30 burial sites, all single, as well as the remains of prosperous villages filled with artifacts made of flint, pottery and animal horns. Although the Mantua pair strike an unusual and touching pose, archaeologists have found other 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. Bondioli, who was not involved in the Mantua dig, 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, 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." Menotti said the burial was "a ritual, but we have to find out what it means." Experts might never determine the exact nature of the pair's relationship, but Menotti said she had little doubt it was born of a deep sentiment. "It was a very emotional discovery," she said. "From thousands of years ago we feel the strength of this love. Yes, we must call it love." The couple's burial site was located Monday during construction work for a factory 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. The finds will then go on display at Mantua's Archaeological Museum. Establishing the cause of death could prove almost impossible, unless they were killed by a debilitating disease, a knife or something else that might have left marks on the bones, Menotti said. 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. 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." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maral Posted February 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 wonder what they would think if they new that thousands of years after they had died people would be looking at their pics like this...fascinating stuff...and sweet in a weird way.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hytga Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 (edited) there's scientific evidence that they were Armenian just kidding Edited February 9, 2007 by hytga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 (edited) NICE SHOT hytga! It is really fascinating. I wonder if they were really mates or just trying to keep warm on a doomed night. Edited February 9, 2007 by Zartonk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 NICE SHOT hytga! It is really fascinating. I wonder if they were really mates or just trying to keep warm on a doomed night? Exactly what I was thinking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takoush Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 They were most probably not married. If they did'nt try to keep each other warm or siblings, then maybe they were lovers but for sure not married. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 There are three scenarios that would make this REALLY funny: 1. If they were actually both male. 2. Even better, if they were actually both female. 3. Even better, if they find out they both didn't die at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 They were most probably not married. If they did'nt try to keep each other warm or siblings, then maybe they were lovers but for sure not married. How do you know for sure that they are not married? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takoush Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 There are three scenarios that would make this REALLY funny: 1. If they were actually both male. 2. Even better, if they were actually both female. 3. Even better, if they find out they both didn't die at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takoush Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 How do you know for sure that they are not married? Because usually married people aren't that much loving towards one another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yervant1 Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Because usually married people aren't that much loving towards one another. Maybe they just got married and this was their honeymoon and sh*t happened and here they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Takoush Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 Maybe they just got married and this was their honeymoon and sh*t happened and here they are. Yeah that's the other possibility. Then I'd buy it if they were married at all and not siblings or two girls, two boys or just trying to keep each other warm and toasty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zartonk Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 They were most probably not married. I would think not. The priest was out that day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harut Posted February 11, 2007 Report Share Posted February 11, 2007 hmm... i see a great deal of bone mass difference... mother and child? teacher and student? (pedaphile!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 hmm... i see a great deal of bone mass difference... mother and child? teacher and student? (pedaphile!) Posterior fontanelle doesn't seem to show a huge age difference, only from the picture the probability that both are of different sex is very high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanVal Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 It shouldn't be too hard to determine if they're of the same sex. The smaller one probably had a wider pelvis; that's probably how they decided it's a female. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 It shouldn't be too hard to determine if they're of the same sex. The smaller one probably had a wider pelvis; that's probably how they decided it's a female. She does, only from the picture we see that, but not only the pelvic bone point to that, since as weird as it seems, not an insignificant number of guys do have female shaped (from the angle) pelvis. The same is true for females who have lower angle openings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted February 14, 2007 Report Share Posted February 14, 2007 embrace jihad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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