Interesting find...

In Italy, archaeologists have found an interesting burial at a Neolithic site. They only just uncovered it, so any concrete information about the burial is pure speculation at this point. It's was a double burial, according to the Italian archaeologists, a first for a Neolithic site... and even more unusual, the bodies were arranged in an embrace. The exact age and sex of the skeletons and their DNA profiles, which will indicate whether or not they were genetically related and, if so, how close, are yet to be determined. All they can tell from looking at the bones right now is that the two were relatively young at the time of death because of the condition of their teeth - intact and not significantly worn. At this time, there is not an apparent cause of death - no knife marks or wearing on the bones which might indicate a violent death or death due to debilitating illness. All very interesting... I hope they find out more soon.

For more information and photographs, you can go here. I chose that article because it does not wildly speculate about the skeletons... There's one article floating about calling them "Romeo and Juliet" because the site is 25 miles away from Verona, they assume that one is male and the other female, and its a week before Valentine's Day... but in truth speculation like that is premature.

Also if you notice the positioning of the skeletons, it looks exactly like the young couple who were digested by fungus at the beginning of "The X-Files" episode "Field Trip" (Season 6, Episode 21)... hmmmm...


"A pair of human skeletons lie in an eternal embrace at an Neolithic archaeological dig site near Mantova, Italy, in this photo released February 6, 2007. Archaeologists in northern Italy believe the couple was buried 5,000-6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in a hug that has lasted millennia. REUTERS/Enrico Pajello/Handout (ITALY). EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS" This photo is the property of Reuters and the photographer who created it. I make no claims of any kind on the copyright, I do not intend to imply any, and I use it here for educational and illustrative purposes only. I make no money from this photograph and have not sold, nor do I intend to sell it for any purpose.