3000 BC/found 02/05/2007 The Stone Age skeletons of a young man and woman were uncovered during digs in Valdaro, an area not far from the central Italian city of Mantua. The man probably died first, say experts, while his companion was sacrificed or chose to die in order to remain with her partner in death. The pair, who have been nicknamed 'the lovers of Valdaro', were buried opposite one another, lying face to face. When archaeologists discovered them, their arm and leg bones were still clearly overlapping, showing they were iaid to rest intertwined. The double burial is drawing widespread attention as it is unique in northern Italy. The only comparable discoveries have been family burials. However, in these, family members are usually laid in parallel lines, with the exception of one woman found clutching her baby. The skeleton on the left, that of the man, had a flint arrowhead at the height of his neck vertebra. The woman's body on the right was found with a long flint blade resting between her thigh and hip bones. Experts believe the weapons may either have been buried with the skeletons as a kind of funeral treasure or, more ominously, may have been the cause of the pair's deaths. They were discovered in an area spanning around 15,000 square metres, which has been under excavation for the last two months. Experts are unearthing the remains of a vast, Roman country villa, complete with baths, pipes and defensive walls with buttresses.
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