Heart-Wrenching Discovery: 4,800-Year-Old Mother and Son Found Embracing in Fossilized Eternal Rest in Taiwan (Videos)

It's a timely discovery as Mother's Day approaches.

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a young mother and toddler locked in an embrace dating back 4,800 years.

The remarkable find was made among 48 sets of remains extracted from graves in Taiwan, including the fossils of five children.

Ancient discovery: 4,800-year-old mother and baby fossilized in Taiwan

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a young mother and toddler who were embracing each other 4,800 years ago. The find is among 48 sets of remains unearthed from graves in Taiwan, including the fossils of five children.

Researchers were stunned to discover the timing of the material, and say these Stone Age relics are the earliest sign of human activity found in central Taiwan.

Preserved for nearly 5,000 years, the skeleton found in the Taichung area shows a young mother looking down at the baby cradled in her arms.

The researchers turned to carbon dating to determine the ages of the fossils, which they traced back to the Neolithic, a period within the Stoke Age.

The excavation began in May 2014 and took archaeologists a year to complete.

But of all the remains found in the open graves, a couple stood out from the rest.

“When they discovered it, all the archaeologists and staff were shocked.

“Why? Because the mother was looking at the baby with her eyes closed,” said Chu Whei-lee, curator of the Department of Anthropology at Taiwan’s National Museum of Natural Science.

According to investigators' measurements, the mother was just 160 cm tall, or 5 feet 2 inches.

The figure in his arms is 50 cm tall, a little over a foot and a half.

This astonishing discovery came as a surprise to researchers, but it is not the first of its kind.

In the past, archaeologists have unearthed remains of similar moments that have been preserved for thousands of years.

Ancient discovery: 4,800-year-old mother and baby fossilized in Taiwan

The skeleton found in the Taichung area, which has been preserved for around 5,000 years, shows a young mother staring at the baby she holds in her arms. Researchers were stunned to discover the immortalised material moment, and say these Bronze Age relics are the oldest sign of human activity found in central Taiwan.

Notably, last year Chinese archaeologists unearthed the intertwined skeletons of a mother and child at an early Bronze Age archaeological site known as the “Pompeii of the East,” the People's Daily Opinion reported.

The mother is believed to have tried to protect her son during a powerful earthquake that hit Qighai Province in central China around 2000 BC.

Experts speculated that the site was hit by an earthquake and a flood of the Yellow River.

Photographs of the skeletal remains show the mother looking up, kneeling on the ground, her arms around her infant son. Archaeologists say they believe the child was a boy.

Ancient discovery: 4,800-year-old mother and baby fossilized in Taiwan

Researchers used carbon dating to determine the age of the fossils, which they dated back to the Neolithic, a period within the Stoke Age. The excavation began in May 2014 and took archaeologists a year to complete.

Ancient discovery: 4,800-year-old mother and baby fossilized in Taiwan

According to the researchers' measurements, the mother was just 160 cm tall, or 5 feet 2 inches. Her arm span is 50 cm, or just over a foot and a half.

THE OLD MOTHER AND CHILD

According to investigators, the mother was only 160 cm tall, or 5 feet 2 inches.

The size of its arms is 50 cm, a little more than a foot and a half.

The find included 48 sets of remains extracted from graves in Taiwan, including the fossils of five children.

Researchers say these Stone Age relics are the earliest sign of human activity found in central Taiwan.

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