The lovers of Valdaro
The Lovers of Valdaro ('gli amanti di Valdaro'), also known as The Lovers of Mantua , is the name given to the skeletons of a woman and a man between the ages of 18 and 20 from the Neolithic period , which took place in Valdaro on February 5, 2007 , an industrial suburb at the gates of Mantua in the municipality of San Giorgio Bigarello in northern Italy. The skeletons had been tightly entwined in a grave for over 5500 years, something that could not be proven for any other Neolithic find until 2015. It is not known why the couple are buried in arms. The head of the excavation was Elena Menotti.
designation
The term "lovers" is speculative, as nothing is known about the details of life and the cause of death. However, dogs were also placed in close proximity to people, so that they may be a reflection of an emotional bond in funeral customs. The bereaved may have deliberately buried the young couple in this position.
Dating and age determination
The age of the two was initially estimated at 5000 to 6000 years based on the tools and an arrowhead in the tomb . With the radiocarbon method, the age could be dated to 4557 ± 51 years BP , which corresponds to a calibrated age of 3370–3315 BC. Corresponds to.
The couple is a man and a woman. Since their teeth are still intact, it was assumed shortly after their discovery that they must have died relatively young. Today their age is estimated at 18 to 20 years.
Recovery, scientific research and presentation
Normally the bones are excavated one by one in skeletal finds. In the case of the lovers of Valdaro , however, the technique of block recovery was used.
Daniela Castagna, one of the archaeologists, remarked to a television station that the grave was laid in a north-south direction, but a further individual grave nearby in an east-west direction. In recent years, a total of 36 burials have been discovered in the area, plus two buried dogs, possibly three. The two definitely identified dogs, probably wolfhounds, lay in the grave with human dead, in one case with two adults, in the other at the feet of an individual. Here, too, there were a few different cases with regard to the orientation of the dead. The posture of the dead was also not uniform. Since there were no disturbances from new graves, it is assumed that the graves were marked above ground so that those who were newly buried did not disturb the peace of those who died earlier. Usually three, sometimes four, individuals were buried in nuclei at the same time ; additions were common.
The pair is accordingly exhibited as it was found in the National Archaeological Museum in Mantua , the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Mantova . The showcase could only be financed through donations , which alone cost 40,000 euros , as the director of the museum, Maria Elena Menotti, had to admit. However, since the first presentation of the find in April 2015 hardly featured in tourism advertising, only twelve visitors came on the first day. A second important find, that of the dog that was buried with a hunter, has also been on display since 2015. The man was given the name Orione , while the dog is now called Sirio . The two were discovered in 2009. They were first exhibited at the Mantuan Archaeological Museum from October 27th to 31st, 2015.
The further investigations were directed by James Tirabassi. The salvage items first moved to the Museo Civico di Como , where they remained until 2009. Only after the examinations carried out there did the couple return to Mantua. Now two more years passed in a wooden box until in 2011 a Comitato Amanti made up of citizens of the city under its president Silvia Bagnoli finally made further progress. This committee also consisted of the Amici di Palazzo Te , the municipal museums and the municipality and the province. The municipality agreed to take over 30,000 euros from the exhibition costs, associations and individuals also donated, while the government in Rome saw no reason to do so.
reception
The excavator Maria Elena Menotti announced in 2007 to the BBC that the dead would "actually hug", whereupon the Boston Globe headlined: "Archaeologists Extract Ancient Lovers", the Daily Mirror even "Grave News: Romance is Dead". Menotti promoted this wave of news in the mass media when she added it and said that love can still be felt after thousands of years, and "Yes, we have to call it love". The name “The Lovers of Valdaro” soon circulated.
An issue of USA Today was now titled "Archaeologists Find Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet Locked in Eternal Embrace," and the Associated Press followed up with "Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet Discovered." It was even speculated whether the young and tragic love described in Shakespeare's work in the Mantua and Verona area did not reach far back in prehistory.
On the other hand, some archaeologists protested against the hasty interpretations, especially since the method of sex determination was not even discussed. That such a hug might indicate huddled relatives, i.e. fear, or strangers attacking each other, i.e. anger, was almost never considered. The few speculations in these directions have been overgrown by reporting in the international media. It was also ignored that another corpse was lifted just three feet to the left of the couple, lying on the right side in a fetal position. It was rarely mentioned in international media coverage, and when it did, it was mentioned as a "solitary" funeral. This type of reporting also reduced the number of images that circulated in the media. The local paper, the Gazzetta di Mantova, originally presented 20 images of the excavation, but ultimately only one remained that seemed to best support the interpretation as a lover.
After this interpretation became generally accepted, numerous artists were inspired by the couple. Quitting Heaven, a heavy metal group, intoned a Skeleton Kiss , Fall Out Boy Believers Never Die , Tesla Forever More (2008) or Darkest Hours The Human Romance . The artist Marzia Migliora created a clay sculpture of the couple with the title lei, che non dormiva mai (she who never slept). Blogs asked to keep the skeletons in place. When the block was being moved to Como for further investigation, an Italian journalist wrote of their "honeymoon," and in Como the now famous couple was received by the mayor.
In 2015 Ralph Dutli published a novel entitled The Lovers of Mantua , in which the two skeletons play a central role.
A comparably positioned couple are the "Lovers of Hsanlu" in Azerbaijan .
literature
- Pamela L. Geller: The Bioarchaeology of Socio-Sexual Lives. Queering Common Sense About Sex, Gender, and Sexuality , Springer, 2016, pp. 90–92 (section Love Never Dies )
Remarks
- ↑ In 2015 a couple was discovered in a similar position in the Peloponnese ( Nuovi amanti abbracciati sfidano la coppia di Valdaro , in: Gazzetta di Mantova, February 13, 2015).
- ↑ Daniela Castagna, Valentina Gazzoni, Gabriele Luigi Francesco Berrutu, Martina de March: Studio preliminare sulle sepolture neolitiche del territorio mantovano: i casi di Mantova, Bagnolo San Vito e San Giorgio , in: Rivista di Studi Liguri LXXVII-LXXIX (2011-2013 ) 339–352, here: p. 351, note 10 ( online , PDF).
- ↑ Mantova, 6mila anni sotto terra e 7 in una cassa: gli 'Amanti' esposti al pubblico , in: Il fatto quotidiano, April 10, 2014.
- ↑ Vincenzo Corrado: "Flop prevedibile": gli amanti di Valdaro rossi di vergogna , in: Gazzetta di Mantova, April 7, 2015.
- ↑ In mostra il cacciatore e il cane sepolti insieme seimila anni fa , in: Corriere della Sera , October 26, 2015.
- ↑ Geller writes here "Fallout Boys"
- ↑ Eros is stronger than death. Stuttgarter-Zeitung.de, October 2, 2015, accessed on August 11, 2016 .
- ↑ All the lust of the earth. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, October 29, 2015, accessed on August 11, 2016 .