I love this photograph. "Eternal Embrace" is what it has been dubbed. The discovery of these skeletons locked in an embrace was quite a find. It is not just the age of the remains~6,000 years~that drew worldwide attention, but also the positioning of the bones in a joint burial. You see, during the Neolithic period it was unheard of for a burial spot to contain more than one body. Archaeologists do not know what to make of this unusual find.
The plan is to excavate all around the couple in order to keep the bones exactly as they were found, instead of dismantling the bones one by one and reassembling them as is typically done. After studying the remains, they will be exhibited in a museum in Italy. Scientists said it will be a record of the longest known hug.
All sorts of stories are swirling around about why these two young people (intact teeth indicate they were young) were buried together and who they are. Most think they were in love. Some that their deaths were a la Romeo and Juliet. After all, the remains were found a mere 25 miles from the city of Verona in Italy. How strikingly curious that Verona was the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Or maybe it was a tragic accident of some kind. The cynics demand to know why everyone is so quick to think the couple was in love. Ah, always someone at the ready to be vocal and rain on everyone's parade.
Yes, I adore this picture. The people are not pretty. There is no glitter, no flashiness, no sparkles in it. Nothing but old bones surrounded by dirt.
Yet, if you look very, very closely, I believe you will see two beautiful hearts joined together as one.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand." ~Albert Einstein
7 comments:
I really enjoyed your entry. This story is so facinating....wouldn't you just love to know the true story behind these people? Thanks for sharing.
Take Care,
~Bilinda~
I too, think that they are beautiful....
xo,
Nancy Pea
It is a very touching photo, isn't it? One conjures up all kinds of circumstances surrounding that hug. To me.. I don't see two skeletons surrounded by dirt.. but a young couple who died gazing into each other's eyes... or perhaps one died before the other, and the one left alive wrapped his/her arms around the other and waited for death to take him/her. Oh, so many stories one could tell. At any rate, it is a beautiful picture.. and I never tire of looking at it..
Hugs
Jackie
The picture in this entry reminds me of the burial of Aida and the King, caught it twice here on Broadway before it closed. Perhaps love is eternal and everlasting for I too can feel the two hearts beating as one as I gaze at your choice of picture for this entry my friend...thank you as always for sharing...
Just dropping in to say hello friend. Tammy
the true story of this is a mother trying to get her daughter to leave the nest...believe me lol
I agree with you on the photo...beautiful....many hugs,
Joyce
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