Pair of human skeletons discovered in 2013 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
The Lovers of Cluj-Napoca are a pair of human skeletons discovered in 2013 by archaeologists in the cemetery of a former Dominican convent in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.[1][2] The couple are believed to have lived between 1450 and 1550 – between the year the convent was established and the year the graveyard was secularised.[2] Analysis by archaeologists confirmed that the skeletons belong to a man and a woman around 30 years of age. The couple were buried facing each other, and with their hands interlocked.[3][4]
The male appears to have died due to a fight or an accident as his sternum is broken, possibly caused by a blow from a blunt object.[5][6] Another archaeologist places the blame for the man's death on a broken hip.[1] The cause of death of the female is unclear from her skeleton. It is unlikely that she died by suicide, as that was considered a sin at the time and would have excluded her from being buried in consecrated ground.[7]
