Trascrizione
The town of San Giorgio, on the outskirts of Mantua, has been the site of numerous archaeological discoveries in recent years, including prehistoric necropolises, a Roman villa, and a Medieval village with cemetery. The Lovers, found in the Valdaro district in 2007, are certainly the best-known and most thrilling find.
The bones are dated latter Neolithic – early Copper Age, around 3,500 BC. A boy and a girl were buried together, next to each other. It was certainly a traumatic moment for their small farming community, losing two young people aged about twenty in one fell swoop. Small flint objects were placed in the tomb to accompany them on their final journey: an arrow next to the girl, a dagger blade and two other tools near her companion.
The study of the skeletons did not reveal cause of death, but did indicate some details about their lives. They were both short – less than one metre fifty – and during childhood they suffered from nutritional deficiencies or debilitating diseases, traces of which left defects on their dental enamel.