Eternal embrace? Couple still hugging 5,000 years on:For Valentines day - by Gillie
Fingernail on 12/2/2007 at 20:27
they seem to have failed at putting the life back into their relationship
SD on 12/2/2007 at 20:29
Maybe he's boning her.
Renzatic on 12/2/2007 at 20:41
Quote Posted by StD
Maybe he's boning her.
That's how I wanna go. But I want a bit more style to it. Like an orgasm, an aneurysm, and a heart attack all at the exact same moment. And to top it off, I suddenly get buried under volcanic ash.
And many years from now, archaeologists will happen upon my remains, see the crooked shiteating grin on my mummified face, and say "that man went out with a BANG, son! BAM!"
And that...is my dream. I feel honored to finally share it with all of you.
Minion21g on 12/2/2007 at 20:51
you made me feel all warm inside.
Aja on 12/2/2007 at 20:56
and outside
Gillie on 12/2/2007 at 22:59
Part 2 : ;)
Interesting theories.. If you want to read.:p
The rest is here. To much to post if you want to read it.(
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070212/ts_nm/archaeology_italy_embrace_new_dc_1)
Scientists to save 5,000-year-old embrace
VALDARO, Italy (Reuters) - Italy won't split up its Stone Age "lovers."
In a Valentine's Day gift to the country, scientists said they are determined to remove and preserve together the remains of a couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in an enduring embrace.
Instead of removing the bones one-by-one for reassembly later, archaeologists plan to scoop up the entire section of earth where the couple was buried, they told Reuters.
The plot will then be transported for study before being put on display in an Italian museum, thereby preserving the world's longest known hug for posterity.
"We want to keep can them just as they have been all this time -- together," archaeologist Elena Menotti, who announced the discovery a week ago, told Reuters.
Their removal will be a relief for archaeologists who had to hire extra security to guard the rural site outside the northern city of Mantova after the discovery made world headlines.
STAR-CROSSED LOVERS?
More importantly, it will give scientists a chance to figure out what was has become one of Italian archaeology's greatest mysteries: the first known Neolithic couple to be buried together, hugging.
Was it a sudden death? A ritual sacrifice? Or maybe they were prehistoric, star-crossed lovers who took their own lives. :wot:
That is a crowd-pleasing theory in these parts, since Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was set in nearby Verona.
Scots Taffer on 12/2/2007 at 23:42
Quote Posted by jimjack
That archeological dig there in Pompeii is facinating. Probably the most preserved site. But.
Probably not, actually. Herculaneum, to the South of Pompeii, is the most preserved of all the Vesuvius sites unearthed. It was not hammered by the pumice and debris that rained down from the initial eruption due to prevailing winds and it was then - essentially - encased in liquid ash, the pyroclastic flow, which hardened and formed a carbonised shield around most of the structures.
Modern day Ercolano, built atop the ancient ruins (and it is largely feared, preventing anymore fascinating archeological discoveries), is not on the coast - but Herculaneum of old had been, it was a fishing town. It was thought that everyone had escaped this town, as it had not been in the full line of fire as Pompeii had, and the excavation seemed to support this - as there were no bodies in the streets, or in homes like Pompeii. But then they discovered a cache of bodies, some 200 or so, huddled together in the boat house, presumably waiting for returning boats to ferry them to safety. Eventually, the pyroclastic column collapsed on itself and became the very wind of death, a hot flood of ash, gas and rock rolled down through the entire town and encased it - to the extent where you can actually see fully preserved wooden floorboards and stairways.
I've been to both of the sites a few times now and it fascinates me endlessly.
Ko0K on 13/2/2007 at 01:38
I'm not so sure about boning, unless sticking your knee in someone's crotch counts as sex in that part of the world where they were discovered. Although, judging from their head positions, it does seem that they were intimate. Anyway, why is this news again?
BrokenArts on 13/2/2007 at 01:43
Why is this news? Because of the position they were found in.
Scots, that's awesome, I envy you being able to visit those places.
Scots Taffer on 13/2/2007 at 02:11
Quote Posted by BrokenArts
Why is this news? Because of the position they were found in.
Scots, that's awesome, I envy you being able to visit those places.
Oh, believe me, I could return there forever and a day. It's not morbid curiosity though, there's really something truly captivating about a preserved slice of history. It hit me in Pompeii and Herculaneum in a way that had never come close before, even when walking around the Coloseum and the Forums of Rome, they had something too, but this place... yeah, something else. There's a reason why it features so heavily in my forgotten novel in progress!
