Excavated skeletons have held hands for seven centuries

Their fingers have been intertwined for the best part of 700 years, and they have just been excavated from a lost chapel in the same English county where the remains of 15th-century monarch Richard III were found. The eternal couple was discovered by a team of archaeologists from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS). The team is on a four-year excavation project at the site, which overlooks the small village of Hallaton. Vicki Score, ULAS project manager, says the skeletons were placed together in this position, as there was enough room in the grave to have them buried apart.

We have seen similar skeletons before from Leicester where a couple has been buried together in a single grave. The main question we find ourselves asking is why were they buried up there?

ULAS project manager Vicki Score

Aside from the bonded couple, 11 skeletons have been found so far, which are yet to be analysed. The team are hoping to find out more about how the gravesite was chosen. It is thought the chapel may have served as a pilgrimage site, or that the main church possibly refused to bury the bodies because they were criminals, foreigners or diseased. Score added that Roman archaeology beneath the chapel implies that something important already existed there, which made it a special place.