British anthropologists and archaeologists have taken a fresh look at the history of gladiatorial combat during the Roman Empire.
They analyzed bite marks from a lion on the skeleton of a man found in an 1800-year-old cemetery on the outskirts of York, in northern England. This has provided the first evidence of battles between humans and animals in Roman Britain.
While bloody clashes between warriors, big cats, and bears have been described and depicted in ancient texts and mosaics, there has previously been no compelling evidence (in the form of human remains) that these encounters were part of Roman entertainment.
Professor Tim Thompson, an anthropologist and the lead author of the study from the University of Maynooth, noted, “This is the first time we have physical evidence that gladiators fought or participated in shows with big cats, such as lions, in the Roman Empire.”
The Gladiator Cemetery
Over the course of 20 years, excavations near the center of York have uncovered around 80 decapitated skeletons. Most belonged to young men of strong build and showed signs of brutal violence. After studying the remains, archaeologists concluded that they had stumbled upon a gladiator cemetery.
One of the skeletons belonged to a man aged between 26 and 35, who was buried in a grave with two other participants in violent battles. The pelvic bones of the man bore signs of puncture wounds. It took years of intensive work for scientists to confirm that the injuries were inflicted by a large predatory animal.
The researchers reviewed stacks of clinical and forensic studies in search of descriptions of bites left by various animals. However, they found nothing regarding the big cats that Romans might have encountered, The Guardian reported. Consequently, the scientists turned to British zoos, which provided them with horse bones that had been damaged by cheetahs, lions, tigers, and leopards for comparison.
According to Professor Thompson, the bite marks on the man’s thigh match those of lions. However, big cats typically kill by biting their prey on the head or neck.
“This injury can be survived; it’s not fatal,” he said. But, according to the team, the man was incapacitated: the marks suggest he had an encounter with an animal. Professor Thompson believes the gladiator may have sustained fatal injuries in battle before being attacked by the animal.
Dr. John Pearce, an archaeologist from King’s College London and a co-author of the study, noted that at the time, York was both a legionary fortress and the second-largest settlement in Roman Britain after Londinium.
“These could have been gladiators training at a gladiatorial school in York associated with the Roman legion stationed there, and their arena or training ground companions took responsibility for their burial,” the scholar suggested.
If the researchers are correct, their discovery raises questions about where exactly gladiators fought. There is likely an arena beneath the city of York, but uncovering it will be challenging. One of the problems is that York has so many old buildings that excavation beneath them is not feasible, researchers say.
And this is not the only mystery to unravel, says Professor Thompson: “Now we know these events took place in the provinces of the Roman Empire, but this raises other questions. For example, how could a lion be transported from Africa to York?”
The results of the study were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/23/bite-marks-on-york-skeleton-reveal-first-evidence-of-gladiators-fighting-lions