Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa
{{Short description|Neolithic skeletons in Laconia, Greece}}
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, Greece, home to a human settlement in the Neolithic age between 6,000 B.C. and 3,200 B.C.{{Cite book |last=Cline |first=Diane Harris |title=The Greeks: An Illustrated History |publisher=National Geographic |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4262-1670-1 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=13 |chapter=Chapter One: Dawn of the Greeks}} DNA analysis confirmed that the remains belong to a man and woman who died when they were 20 to 25 years of age.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150220-embracing-skeletons-greece-diros-alepotrypa-cave-archaeology/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110075247/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150220-embracing-skeletons-greece-diros-alepotrypa-cave-archaeology/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 10, 2019|title=Embracing Stone Age Couple Found in Greek Cave|date=2015-02-20|website=National Geographic News|language=en|access-date=2019-11-10}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/5-800-year-old-skeletons-found-locked-embrace-near-greek-n306071|title=5,800-Year-Old Skeletons Found Locked in Embrace Near Greek Cave|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=2019-11-10}}{{Cite journal|last1=Lugli|first1=Federico|last2=Di Rocco|first2=Giulia|last3=Vazzana|first3=Antonino|last4=Genovese|first4=Filippo|last5=Pinetti|first5=Diego|last6=Cilli|first6=Elisabetta|last7=Carile|first7=Maria Cristina|last8=Silvestrini|first8=Sara|last9=Gabanini|first9=Gaia|last10=Arrighi|first10=Simona|last11=Buti|first11=Laura|date=2019-09-11|title=Enamel peptides reveal the sex of the Late Antique 'Lovers of Modena'|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=9|issue=1|pages=13130|doi=10.1038/s41598-019-49562-7|issn=2045-2322|pmc=6739468|pmid=31511583|bibcode=2019NatSR...913130L}}
The prehistoric skeletons died in a lover’s embrace with the man lying behind the woman, draping his arms over her, and with their legs intertwined.{{Cite web|url=https://www.seeker.com/skeletons-in-6000-year-old-embrace-found-in-cave-1769516285.html|title=Skeletons in 6,000-Year-Old Embrace Found in Cave|last=Lorenzi|first=Rossella|date=2015-02-13|website=Seeker|access-date=2019-11-10}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/skeletons-embracing-found-in-a-greek-cave-78481|title=Skeletons embracing found in a Greek cave|website=Hürriyet Daily News|language=en|access-date=2019-11-10}}{{Cite web|url=https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-remains-of-a-stone-age-couple-found-in-a-spooning-e-1687436269|title=The Remains Of A Stone Age Couple Found In A Spooning Embrace|website=io9|date=23 February 2015 |language=en-us|access-date=2019-11-10}}
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 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.