People from an ancient community in what is now northern Italy were buried with animals such as dogs and horses. The reasons remain mysterious, but might indicate an enduring companion relationship these men and women had with their animals.

A recent study revealed that archaeologists uncovered 161 burials from the Late Iron Age, around 2,200 years ago, and found 10 percent of the people were buried with animals at the site in Seminario Vescovile, near Verona.

The research team looked for patterns that might explain the animal burials, analyzing the demographics, diets, genetics and burial conditions of the interred humans and animals—but the analysis did not lead to any notable correlations.

"The people interred with animals do not seem to be closely related to each other, which would have suggested that this was a practice of a certain family," said study co-author Dr Zita Laffranchi of the University of Bern in Switzerland.

She said the lack of patterns among the graves mean that "multiple interpretations" of the human-animal co-burials remain possible.

Four of the people were buried with dogs or horses, including a baby next to a dog, a middle-aged man buried with a small dog, and a middle-aged woman buried with an entire horse and a dog skull.

Some of the graves contained the remains of animals used as food, including pigs, a chicken, and part of a cow, which may have represented "offerings to the dead".

"Animals like dogs and horses often had religious symbolism in ancient cultures, but at the same time, specific individuals may also have been buried with their animal companions," explained Dr. Laffranchi.

The Swiss and Italian research team, whose findings were published in the journal PLOS One, also noted that the human-animal burial practices might have been determined by the interplay between different individual traits and societal customs.

This study, entitled ‘Until death do us part,' is part of the CELTUDALPS research project, exploring burials of horses and dogs with humans, and may hint at unknown rituals and beliefs during the late centuries BCE in Italy.

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