Welcome to House of History. As I was researching this video, which is about the oldest kiss
in the world, I stumbled upon the world record of the longest kiss in the world. Apparently,
in 2011 a Thai couple has managed to establish the new record: 46 hours, 24 minutes and 9
seconds. They beat the record by two Germans from 2009 that spent 32 hours, 7 minutes and
14 seconds kissing. Right. I doubt you’d ever want to kiss again after such an experience,
but okay. Now, today I’m not going to talk about people that kiss longer than most people
have ever been awake in one go. I want to talk about the oldest kiss in the world. I’m
talking about the so-called Hasanlu lovers, an incredible archaeological find. Excavated
in 1972, this “kiss” is estimated to have lasted for 2800 years and still fascinates
archaeologists and the world alike. We’ll also be looking at some other rare archaeological
finds of remains discovered in a loving embrace.
-intro-
Teppe Hasanlu is an ancient city located in north-western Iran. It was inhabited from
approximately 6000 BC to 300 AD, and nowadays there are still attempts by institutions to
get the entire site to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And that isn’t too
odd; in fact, it is rather strange the site isn’t on the list already. The city was
destroyed in a fire during the 9th century BC, in effect rendering an entire layer of
the city frozen in time. Knowing this, archaeologists had a field day: pots and pans, skeletons,
artefacts and constructions remain preserved in the layer to be studied. Now, between 1956
and 1974 a team of scientists and archaeologists of the Metropolitan Museum in New York in
collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania excavated the archaeological site. Already
in 1957 the archaeologists Robert Dyson discovered the Golden bowl of Hasanlu. The bowl was of
solid gold and preserved in a great state, and estimated to be well over 3200 years old!
Besides the bowl, it was this excavation that lasted for 18 years that led to another surprising
discovery. In 1972 two human remains were found on the excavation site. Now, there were
246 skeletons found in total, so that isn’t too rare. No, what was really surprising was
the position of the remains. Apparently, this couple had been lying there, embracing each
other in a kissing position for thousands of years. They were nicknamed ‘the Lovers’
and upon discovery became famous throughout the world.
So do we know what happened in the lead up to their deaths? It is assumed the couple
died during a battle for control over Teppe Hasanlu during the 8th century BC. The 246
other skeletons found at the site and the injuries they sustained support that thesis.
The Lovers, I’ll call them, sought refuge in a hole which must have collapsed on top
of them leading to suffocation. They died together in an endearing embrace. Carbon-dating
confirms them passing away around 800 before Christ, so a bit over 2800 years ago. The
right skeleton was confirmed as being a man because of his pelvis structure. For a long
time, it was assumed the way the man is positioned makes it seem he protected his lover as she
was kissing him. New research shows that the body on the right
is a young adult between the age of 19 and 22, whereas the other skeleton is between
30 and 35. This skeleton’s gender cannot be determined for sure, but there are studies
that state both skeletons were male. And because no scientific research has conclusively confirmed
the gender of the skeleton on the left, there is still an ongoing debate what the relationship
between the remains was.
Although the Lovers of Hansalu are technically the “oldest kiss” in the world, there
are more examples, although they are rare, of skeletons excavated in a romantic position.
The Lovers of Valdaro, for instance. Excavated in 2007 in San Giorgio near Mantua, Italy,
human remains from the Neolithic era were found. Now to put that into perspective: archaeologists
concluded the remains were over 6000 years old! Two skeletons appear to be embracing
each other, looking in each other’s eyes as they died. The remains were of a man and
woman, around 20 years old, face to face with their arms and legs intertwined. Thing is,
these so-called double burials, where a couple is buried together were rare, if not unique
during the Neolithic period. Certainly for Italy: this is the only double-burial from
this era discovered. The region the couple was discovered was great for preservation:
it consisted of marshland and rivers, which is why the skeletons were preserved so well.
So then there is the big question: how did they die? It is a bit of irony, but Shakespeare’s
Romeo and Juliet is situated in Verona, very closeby to where the lovers were found. Unfortunately,
their deaths were probably a bit less romantic than in Shakespeare’s work. Well, the man
had an arrow in his spinal column and the woman had an arrowhead in her side. The head
archaeologist, Elena Maria Menotti, had this to say about the discovery: "We have never
found a man and a woman embraced before and this is a unique find. We have found plenty
of women embracing children but never a couple. Much less a couple hugging΄and they really
are hugging. It's possible that the man died first and then the woman was killed in sacrifice
to accompany his soul. From an initial examination they appear young as their teeth are not worn
down but we have sent the remains to a laboratory to establish their age at the time of death.
They are face to face and their arms and legs are entwined and they are really hugging.”
If you’re interested, the skeletons are on permanent display in their own rooms in
the Archaeological Museum of Mantua!
Alright, so the last example I want to talk about is an interesting one as well. Closeby
our previous example, in Modena, Italy, a couple was found that had been holding hands
for 1600 years! These “lovers of Modena” were unearthed in 2009 and the media’s attention
was drawn to it because of their seemingly romantic position. The skeletons had degraded
to a point where archaeologists had difficulty establishing the gender of both skeletons.
In 2019 a team of scientists ran teeth-analysis on the couple in order to determine their
gender. Both skeleton’s teeth contained a protein called amelogenin isoform Y, a protein
that is only found in the teeth of men. In the study, the scientists wrote "We suggest
that the 'Lovers of Modena' burial represents a voluntary expression of commitment between
two individuals," and that they were uncertain if the reason for their position was romantic
or not. It could very well have been the two were
war friends. 11 other skeletons were found at the excavated site, all of them with injuries
suggestion they died during a war. These two bodies could have been friends and have been
lumped together in a grave because of that, according to the researchers. Or they could
have been cousins or brothers due to their age, sharing the grave because of their family
bond. The researchers reasoned that they could not be sure the two weren’t in a romantic
relationship, but it is unlikely that [the] people who buried them decided to show such
[a] bond by positioning their bodies hand in hand." Many of the people in the region
had converted to Christianity by the time the men were buried, and authorities held
a negative view of same-sex relationships, although admittedly Greek and Roman culture
did allow for very intimate bonds between men to be expressed, and even encouraged.
Now as for the Hasanlu Lovers debate will continue about the gender of the skeletons
since there cannot be a conclusive decision on the left skeleton. Nevertheless, it makes
for a fascinating archaeological find and all three cases are, in my opinion, incredibly
interesting.
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If there is a person or event from the Second World War you would like to know more about,
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