It could be humanity's oldest story
of doomed love.
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.
Buried between 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric lovers 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 now will study the artifacts and the skeletons to determine
the burial site's age and how old the two were when they died, she
said.
