700 year old skeletons found holding hands

Archeologists from the University of Leicester have been digging up the “lost” chapel of st. Morrell in east Leicestershire. They have recently announced the discovery of 11 human skeletons which are from back around 700 years ago. Two of these skeletons are of a man and women who were buried together and have been holding hands since the 14th century.“We have seen similar skeletons before from Leicester where a couple has been buried together in a single grave,” Vicki Score of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) said in a press release. “The main question we find ourselves asking is why were they buried up there? There is a perfectly good church in Hallaton. This leads us to wonder if the chapel could have served as some sort of special place of burial at the time.”

The town of Hallaton’s main church was St. Michael, though the Chapel of St. Morrell wasn’t far. Hallaton has lots of fairs and attractions that drew tourists and tradesmen. The two skeletons could’ve been ill, foreign, or criminals, who weren’t allowed into the church. The bodies were still positioned east-west, as was the christian tradition during that time. This was to prepare the dead for Resurrection. The archaeologists also discovered an older man who seems to have died from a blow from the head. Another younger man was found with damaged teeth and his knees drawn up to his chest.