The Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa are a pair of human skeletons dated as approximately 5,800 years old. They were discovered by archaeologists in the Alepotrypa cave in

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The pair were dated to 3,800 BCE and DNA analysis confirmed that the remains belong to a man and woman who died when they were 20 to 25 years of age. The

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

skeletons died in a lover’s embrace with the man lying behind the woman, draping his arms over her, and with their legs intertwined.

They're totally spooning, The boy is the big spoon, and the girl is the little spoon: Their arms are draped over each other, their legs are intertwined. It's unmistakable. :—Bill Parkinson, associate curator of
Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
anthropology at Chicago's Field Museum

Greek archaeologist Anastasia Papathanasiou said about the couple's pose; "It's a very natural hug; it doesn't look like they were arranged in this posture at a much later date." The cause of death of the two individuals is currently unknown.

References

{{Reflist Archaeological sites in the Peloponnese (region) Archaeology of death Burial monuments and structures Couples Human remains (archaeological) Neolithic sites in Greece Laconia Skeletons Unsolved deaths

See also

References