'Romeo And Juliet' Found

[Sheffield History]

'Romeo And Juliet' Found

The skeletons of two embracing lovers have been discovered in an Italian city featured in Romeo And Juliet.

The archaeologist in charge of the excavation says the nature of the find - two adults hugging each other - is "unique".

The couple have already been dubbed "the lovers of Valdano", a reference to the small town near Mantua where they were discovered this week.

Early tests suggest the pair were relatively young when they died and that they may have been lying in their joint grave for more than 5,000 years.

The man, on the left, appears to have an arrow in his spinal column, while the woman has an arrow head in her side.

In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet, the hero is sent to Mantua after killing Tybalt Capulet in a swordfight, returning to Verona after hearing that Juliet has died.

However, archaeologists believe the story behind the Lovers of Valdano may be less romantic than that of Romeo and Juliet.

Elena Menotti, who is leading the dig at Valdano, said: "I am so excited about this discovery. We have never found a man and a woman embraced before and this is a unique find.

"We have found plenty of women embracing children but never a couple, much less a couple hugging - and they really are hugging.

"It's possible that the man died first and then the woman was killed in sacrifice to accompany his soul.

"From an initial examination they appear young as their teeth are not worn down but we have sent the remains to a laboratory to establish their age at the time of death."

She added: "I've been doing this job for 25 years. I've done digs at Pompeii, all the famous sites. But I've never been so moved because this is the discovery of something special."

[syrup]

A Song supposedly about The Valdano Lovers. (Not to my taste but might suit some).

http://www.weareawake.us/quittingheaven/skeletonkiss.html

[DaveH]

A Song supposedly about The Valdano Lovers. (Not to my taste but might suit some).

http://www.weareawake.us/quittingheaven/skeletonkiss.html

Not to mine either syrup

Somehow I was expecting an operatic aria sung in Italian for this one, - and that would have have been OK

..but not this loud rock stuff, seems an inappropriate style for the subject content :angry: