Lovers Of Modena on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Lovers of Modena are a pair of human skeletons discovered in 2009 by archaeologists in present-day
Modena
Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025.
A town, and seat of an archbis ...
, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The two skeletons were buried with their hands interlocked and are believed to have been buried between the 4th and 6th century CE. Originally it was assumed that the two were composed of a male and a female, but upon scientific analysis of enamel peptides by the University of Bologna
The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...
it was confirmed that the skeletons belong to two males. The pair are now on display at the Civic Museum of Modena.
Interpretations
The relation of the two males is unknown, but one of the researchers from the University of Bologna, Federico Lugli, suggested that rather than lovers they could have been brothers, cousins, or soldiers; he is quoted as saying in Italian, "The burial of two men hand in hand was certainly not a common practice in late antiquity... In late ancient times it is unlikely that a homosexual love could be recognized so clearly by the people who prepared the burial... Given that the two individuals are of similar ages, they could be relatives -- for example, brothers or cousins, or soldiers who died together in battle: the necropolis where they were found could be a war cemetery”.
See also
*Lovers of Cluj-Napoca
The Lovers of Cluj-Napoca are a pair of human skeletons discovered in 2013 by archaeologists in the cemetery of a former Dominican Order, Dominican convent in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The couple are believed to have lived between 1450 and 1550 – bet ...
* Lovers of Valdaro
The Lovers of Valdaro, or Valdaro Lovers ( Italian: ''Amanti di Valdaro''), are a pair of human skeletons dated as approximately 6,000 years old. They were discovered by archaeologists at a Neolithic tomb in San Giorgio near Mantua, Italy, in 200 ...
* Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa
* Hasanlu Lovers
* Lovers of Teruel
The Lovers of Teruel () is a popular romance story. It is alleged to have taken place in 1217 in the city of Teruel (Aragón).
Notable versions include a play written by Juan Pérez de Montalbán, first printed in 1635.
Story
In the city there ...
References
2009 archaeological discoveries Ancient LGBTQ history Archaeological discoveries in Italy Human remains (archaeological) Same-sex couples Skeletons {{Italy-archaeology-stub