700-Year-Old Skeletons Discovered In Leicester Still Holding Hands

Archaeologists have discovered two ancient skeletons that have been holding hands for at least 700 years.

The remains of a man and a woman were found with intertwined fingers at the Chapel of St Morrell, an ancient site of pilgrimage in Hallaton.

Hallaton Fieldwork Group volunteers were working on the dig for four years and archaeologist Vicky Score from the University of Leicester was leading the project.

Score told the Leicester Mercury that carbon-dating on the nine skeletons uncovered had revealed them to be from the 14th century.
Score said some of the nine skeletons had stones placed on top of their bodies.

“This was a tradition popular in eastern Europe with the idea of keeping the dead down. What makes the discovery of the medieval chapel doubly exciting is to find the remains of a previous Roman building underneath it. It shows this ground has been used as a special sort of place by people for at least 2,000 years.

Local historian John Morrison located the chapel which was mentioned in a will of 1532 for the first time.
It’s believed that Hallaton was a special site where the sick came to be cured.

However, the oldest embracing couple discovered so far date back around 3,000 years. They were found in each other’s arms in a grave in the Turkish province of Diyarbakir.
Archaeologist Halil Tekin explained to the Anatolia news agency what might have been the cause of their death.

“The way they were buried signifies that they were lovers. An illness or even a crime of love may have been the cause of their deaths.”