Who were they and how did they end up six feet under?
The discovery was made at a Neolithic tomb in San Giorgio near Mantua, Italy.
Carbon dating showed the couple died approximately 6,000 years ago.
At first, it was thought that the couple had met a tragic end.
Photo credit:Dagmar Hollmann/Wikimedia Commons
But that didnt seemed to be the case.
There was no evidence of violent death, no fracture, or any other signs of trauma.
Rather, they found a long flint blade along the thigh, and two flint knives under the pelvis.
Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa
This burial was discovered in the Alepotrypa cave in Laconia, Greece.
The Alepotrypa Cave is renowned as one of Europe’s largest Neolithic burial grounds.
Nestled within a mountain above Diros Bay, its vast interior chambers extend more than half a kilometer.
Around 3000 B.C., an earthquake shook the region, leading to the cave entrance’s collapse.
This event inadvertently sealed and preserved the cave’s contents.
Rediscovered in 1958, excavations began in the 1970s, unearthing a wealth of archaeological treasures.
One of these burials contains the remains of a child and a newborn.
The final burial, however, captivated archaeologists with its extraordinary sightan embracing couple.
Their limbs intertwine, their arms draped over each other, frozen in a timeless hug.
There is no definitive explanation as to how the two skeletons ended up in the bin.
It is assumed that they crawled into the bin to escape the killings, and somehow got trapped.
They probably died of asphyxiation.
At first, it was thought that the skeletons represented a male-female pair.
The revelation of their shared gender prompted media speculation regarding the nature of their relationship.
The skeletons belong to a man and a woman around 30 years of age.
The couple were buried facing each other, and with their hands interlocked.
The monastery was built around 1455 on the site of a Roman church and an earlier 13th century monastery.
Researchers believe the two might have been siblings, cousins or soldiers who died together in battle.
The mans skeleton shows signs of an unhealed injury to his right arm.
Alternatively, it is also possible that both individuals passed away simultaneously, possibly due to an illness.
