In a Valentine's Day gift to the country, scientists said they are determined to remove and preserve together the remains of a couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, their arms still wrapped around each other in an enduring embrace.

Instead of removing the bones one-by-one for reassembly later, archaeologists plan to scoop up the entire section of earth where the couple was buried, they told Reuters.

The plot will then be transported for study before being put on display in an Italian museum, thereby preserving the world's longest known hug for posterity.

"We want to keep can them just as they have been all this time -- together," archaeologist Elena Menotti, who announced the discovery a week ago, told Reuters.

Their removal will be a relief for archaeologists who had to hire extra security to guard the rural site outside the northern city of Mantova after the discovery made world headlines.... More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070212/sc_nm/archaeology_italy_embrace_new_dc)

Picture (http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20070213/2007_02_12t220523_345x450_us_archaeology_italy_emb race.jpg?x=264&y=345&sig=YUaJblXX1fkfBGRzOx1f0w--)

aaaaaaawwwwwwww

^ exactly!

"We want to keep can them just as they have been all this time -- together,"

that's so sweet! :cute:

Thats so sweet?! :os That is SO inapropriate (sp?)!! Not only is it haram in Islam (wow look at me going all Islamic and stuff) but seriously, this is disturbing the dead! You do not dig up the dead.. they died together...leave them together.. BURIED!

^^^

Now THAT's an interesting perspective! Leave it to Blind Melon to get you to think about something in a new way! :)

It is funny how if they are old enough and from a distant enough group of people, we don't treat them like we would our friends and family.

But these boney old sweethearts are from Italy, anyway, and we Catholics are different. We venerate the bones and bodies of saints.

http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/relics/relic-thomasfinger.jpg

We keep 'em under the altar and every altar used to have an altar stone in it with the relic of a saint. That's why altars look like tombs!

http://www.christorchaos.com/images/Picture295.jpg

And monks have often been interred in chapel ossuaries, sometimes very gruesome looking!

http://www.travel.neunerweb.de/Spain%20and%20Portugal%201_files/image015.jpg

So, as you can see, we love bones and we like to look at 'em! :)

lol..but seriously, dont you consider this distrubing the dead, religion aside..
Would the saint really like it if he knew he was "on display"?

Does it seem logical to you?

For some reason, I would understand (I dont know why but I would) venerating the bones and bodies of saints. So altars are not actually tombs? Or some of them are?

Who knows if they were only embracing?

Awww ! That's so damn romantic!

Blind Milon, When the Archeologistis took the bones of the egyption pharoas was it disturbing also?

And they are only the remains of their bodies, their souls are somewhere far from there, so yes it is a good plan.

lol..but seriously, dont you consider this distrubing the dead, religion aside..
Would the saint really like it if he knew he was "on display"?

Does it seem logical to you?

For some reason, I would understand (I dont know why but I would) venerating the bones and bodies of saints. So altars are not actually tombs? Or some of them are?

Well, you know, we believe the saint DOES know their old bones are on display because they are in heaven and they hear our prayers and know what's going on with us.

Altars are "tables" of sacrifice. We offer the Sacrifice of the Mass on them. During the days of the catacombs, Mass was often celebrated on tombs of martyrs underground. After Christianity moved above-ground, churches were often built over tombs of martyrs and the altar would be over the tomb itself.

But after a while, the supply of martyrs dried up in Christian countries. Happier days! :p So people started putting the relics of martyrs or other saints--a bone or something--under the altar. And eventually, just a chip of bone inserted in a stone was placed inside the top of the altar in an "altar stone".

Now, many altars don't even have that!