Embracing Neolithic Couple Found In Diros Cave
- by XpatAthens
- Friday, 06 March 2015
A rare Neolithic-era find of the skeletons of a couple embracing was found in excavations by the northern entrance of the Alepotrypa (“Foxhole”) Cave in southern Greece, the Archaeological Service announced on Thursday.
The undisturbed burial was found close to a burial of another male and female who were found in fetal position. The burials also contained broken arrowheads.
The embracing couple’s skeletons were dated with the C14 method to 3800 BC while their DNA analysis confirmed the remains were those of a male and female.
Both burials are part of a Neolithic cemetery in the greater area of the Neolithic Diros Cave, in western Mani, where excavations have yielded children’s, embryos’ and adults’ burials dated from 4200 to 3800 BC. According to most recent data and analyses, the cave appears to have been in use from Early to Final Neolithic (6000-3200 BC) and served throughout as settlement and cemetery.
At the end of the Final Neolithic (3200 BC), a severe earthquake sealed the entrance of the cave and the remains of its inhabitants inside. Excavations began after an accidental discovery by speleologists Yiannis and Anna Petrocheilos in 1958.
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By A. Makris