There they lay, in each other’s arms, locked in an eternal embrace, till the end of time.
One day, they were discovered, 6,000 years after they slept forever. They were entwined as they were back then, their position intimate and untouched by time or nature. Even as skeletons, they remind us of the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, in the tragedy of a doomed end. But they have their own identity now.
They’re known as the ‘Lovers of Valdaro’, named after a little village near Mantua, in northern Italy, where they were found.
According to archeologists, they belong to the Neolithic period (5000-4000 B.C.). They might have been buried this way or died like that, holding onto each other. The reason of their demise remains a secret.
“I am so thrilled at this find,” says archaeologist Elena Maria Menotti, who led the excavation. “I have been involved in lots of digs all over Italy, but nothing has excited me as much as this. I’ve never been so moved, because this is the discovery of something special.”
After several tests and examinations, it was revealed that the man and woman were as young as 18-20 years old, and approximately 5’2 in height. They didn’t separate the two though; no one could dream of destroying their eternal embrace. The patch of earth on which they rested was taken out ever so carefully, before being sent off to a laboratory for further investigation. They were first displayed to the public at National Archaeological Museum in Mantua, Italy.
As they say, true love never dies. This prehistoric couple proved it by defying all odds. Now that the lovers have been removed from their grave, they’ll have a new permanent home. We’ll never really know what happened to them. But there’s so much beauty in mystery. Some things are just better unknown.