Posted on 07/28/2018 12:03:40 PM PDT by BBell
ETERNAL LOVE Skeletons of 5,000-year-old Romeo and Juliet ‘lovers’ found buried alongside remains of two sacrificed horses ‘pulling a chariot into the afterlife’
The couple were found buried with lavish jewellery, spearheads and ceramic pottery in the Karaganda region
THE 5,000-year-old remains of a "Romeo and Juliet" couple have been unearthed next to the skeletons of two sacrificed horses in Kazakhstan.
Their bones were found lying side by side in an ancient grave alongside metal spearheads, precious stones and ceramic pottery in the Karaganda region.
Their bones look worn but it's clear both lovers are lying on their sides and almost locked in an eternal embrace.
Archaeologists believe the man, who was buried with arrows and metal dagger, may have been an elite Bronze Age charioteer.
Horses commonly featured in the burial of great Kazakh warriors in the bronze age, according to academic paper Horses For The Dead.
The animals were hugely symbolic to the country and influenced everything from culture and art to cuisine.
They were also a sign of military power and prestige, featuring "heavily" in the burial of "high status warriors".
The report said: "It appears that horse sacrifice was a key component of high status burials at this time."
It also noted men had "richer graves" with military objects while women were more commonly buried with "ceramics, needles and ornaments".
Dr Igor Kukushkin, who headed the excavation, said several unanswered questions remain about who the lovers were.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesun.co.uk ...
Probably neither she nor the horses really wanted to go.
How can you tell whether they were tall or not? Just curious. I think the Yamnaya were tall people but I don’t see any way to measure those skeletons.
I’m curious if they measured the skeletons. I’ve always read that people in the past were shorter than today. But the guy seems to have long legs. It’s hard to tell from a photograph, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy was 6ft. That seems pretty tall for someone who lived 5,000 years ago. Just an observation.
It is altogether a very impressive tomb.
“It is unlikely that the woman was a willing participant.”
That was my thought, too. That woman was probably his favorite concubine, so was murdered and tucked in beside him.
I thought it was. It was probably really impressive when it was made.
In some cultures entire courts were entombed. Dozens of people filed into these tombs and died with no evident violence to them.
I noticed from past archaeological digs that height can be an indicator as to status. Tall people, more status. Some things never change.
I had to shorten the title to post it and I messed it up a bit.
These may have been Scythian, noted by the Greeks as being tall and formidable warriors. Or predecessors of the Aryans who invaded India.
Yes, one can only imagine what details are missing now after 5,000 years.
Fragile things like flowers would have disappeared in months.
Dude looks like his head got bashed in. Didn’t see anything about it in the article.
I’ll go out on a limb here, and speculate that the horses weren’t willing participants either.
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