Trending Now
The “Lovers of Modena” are a pair of ancient skeletons that were buried holding hands thousands of years ago. Recently, archaeologists discovered that both of the skeletons were actually male, leading them to conclude that they couldn’t possibly be lovers — because homosexuality isn’t a thing, right? Right.
Study author Federico Lugli said that the pair could be “siblings, cousins or soldiers who died together in battle,” the BBC reports.
“There are currently no other examples of this type,” Federico added. “Many tombs have been found in the past with couples holding hands, but in all cases there was a man and a woman. What might have been the bond between the two individuals in the burial in Modena remains a mystery.”
A mystery indeed.
But people on Twitter have some, uh, theories.
You know, just wild guesses.
Because it’s not totally obvious or anything.
https://twitter.com/drlawson/status/1172172360918675462
Nobody has ever been gay in the history of mankind!
https://twitter.com/HanyuuHiiragi/status/1172207121066278912
To be fair, these skeletons were buried between the 4th and 6th century AD in northern Italy. Homosexuality was illegal there at that time, and these two received a proper burial.
Still, it’s quite possible that this couple had some loved ones who secretly honored their relationship despite the cultural taboo.
Technically, we’ll never know whether the Lovers of Modena were really lovers or not. Either way, though, they’re basically icons of gay culture now.
