The skeletons of two prehistoric humans found buried locked in an embrace last week will continue to keep the heart-warming pose this Valentine's day. Archaeologists in Italy, who unearthed the rare Neolithic era burial, are planning to scoop out the entire section of the earth to preserve the integrity of the pose.

"We will work to keep them together," Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig told the AP. "Removing the turf in one piece will preserve the position and allow us to collect more data on the burial.''

The pair, believed to be 5,000 to 6,000 years old was found last Monday during construction work for a factory building in the outskirts of Mantua, about 25 miles south of Verona, the city of Shakespeare's love-struck character Romeo and Juliet.

According to Menotti, the pair was young when they both died because their teeth were found intact and not worn down.

Although scientists have previously found several double burials in which the dead hold hands or have other contact, it is presumably the first time that the skeletons are so clearly wrapping each other in a hug.

Menotti said there is little doubt the couple's pose was born of a deep love, but warned it could be impossible to determine the exact nature of their relationship and how they died.

The pair will undergo DNA testing to determine if the two skeletons had been related, before being displayed at Mantua's Archaeological Museum.