Italy's police squad for art says an ancient warrior's skeleton has been found floating in a tomb filled with sea water on a beach near Rome (Italy). The bones are believed to date from between 2,000 BCE to 3,000 BCE.
     Carabinieri art squad official Raffaele Mancino said that the warrior was likely killed by an arrow that was found among his ribs. He says there was also a hole in the back of the skull. The warrior is nicknamed 'Nello' after the archaeologist who found him in May as art hunters were making a routine check of the region's archaeological areas. The bones were found along with six vases and two daggers. Mancino says the tomb could be part of a wider necropolis lying just a few steps from the sea.
     The tomb, hidden in the bushes on a public beach in Nettuno, about 65km south of Rome, was excavated in less than one day to preserve it from sea water erosion, Mancino said. Part of it has already been damaged. The warrior's bones will be examined and eventually put on display, officials said. The beach remains open, though the area of the discovery has been cordoned off.

Sources: Associated Press (31 July 2009), World News Australia