Roman Gladiator’s Bones in York Reveal Lion Bite Marks

For most people who have drawn breath on Earth throughout history, the circumstances of their deaths have vanished from the record as completely as an exhaled breath.

But archaeologists have found a first-of-its-kind record etched into the bones of one resident of the ancient Roman Empire, who died violently around 1,800 years ago: a lion mauled him, probably during gladiatorial combat.

No other gladiatorial remains have previously been recovered with marks of an encounter with an animal.

The location makes the find more remarkable still. The man was discovered at Driffield Terrace, a Roman-era cemetery in York, England, far from the centre of the Roman world.

Historical accounts describe lions being used in gladiatorial arenas. The bones now demonstrate that this happened not only in Italy but also in more distant parts of the empire, supporting suspicions that fallen arena fighters were buried at Driffield Terrace.

"The bite marks were likely made by a lion," says archaeologist Malin Holst of the University of York in the UK, "which confirms that the skeletons buried at the cemetery were gladiators, rather than soldiers or slaves, as initially thought and represent the first osteological confirmation of human interaction with large carnivores in a combat or entertainment setting in the Roman world."

Gladiatorial remains at Driffield Terrace

The Roman Empire is unusually well understood thanks to records made at the time, along with artworks and other cultural artefacts that survived long after its fall for researchers to collect and examine.

Those sources tell us that gladiators were a popular spectacle, with fighters engaging in brutal combat against one another and against large carnivores, including bears and lions.

The bones of actual arena fighters, however, are exceptionally scarce, leaving archaeologists with little physical evidence against which to test those accounts.

Scientists were therefore excited when excavations in York in 2004 and 2005 uncovered the remains of 74 strongly built adult men from Roman-era Britain. The find offered a possible collection of gladiatorial remains that could put the historical accounts in context.

The remains were intriguing. Some of the men had been cremated, while many skeletons complete enough to assess had been decapitated from back to front, as in an execution.

Their graves were shallow and had neither grave goods nor markers. One skeleton wore large iron rings around his ankles, and healed or healing injuries were common. Isotope analysis also indicated that the men had originated from many different places.

Researchers considered several explanations, including a massacre, a soldiers’ cemetery and a burial pit for slaves. One resemblance stood out, though: healed skull injuries were much like those found at a gladiatorial burial site in Ephesus.

Here, then, was a cemetery containing robust men from a range of geographical origins who had repeatedly taken part in combat-like activities. Many had also been decapitated, as gladiators were reportedly sometimes decapitated after death. Hmmmmmm.

Lion bite marks on the Roman gladiator’s bones

One individual, designated 6DT19, had been buried in a box with several other people and, like many of them, had been decapitated. His bones, however, bore something distinctive: punctures and scored furrows on the pelvis.

A team led by anthropologist Tim Thompson of Maynooth University in Ireland made 3D scans of the bones to investigate what had caused the marks. The researchers compared them with accounts of animal attacks on humans and with the bite patterns of felines, canines and bears.

Following an exhaustive comparison, the team concluded that a large feline, such as a lion, was the most likely source. There was no sign that the marks had healed, indicating that they were made around the time of death. Rather than suggesting an attack, they appeared consistent with a big cat settling down to eat.

"The implications of our multidisciplinary study are huge. Here we have physical evidence for the spectacle of the Roman Empire and the dangerous gladiatorial combat on show," Thompson says.

"For years, our understanding of Roman gladiatorial combat and animal spectacles has relied heavily on historical texts and artistic depictions," explains Thompson.

"This discovery provides the first direct, physical evidence that such events took place in this period, reshaping our perception of Roman entertainment culture in the region."

A possible arena fighter in Roman York

The researchers established that the man died aged between 26 and 35, around 200 to 300 CE. He appears to have experienced malnutrition as a child and to have had back problems caused by carrying too much weight.

The team thinks he may have been a type of Bestiarius, a volunteer arena fighter who fought animals instead of other men. That would suggest exotic animals may have been transported to York for arena entertainment. The city may even have had an amphitheatre, although no trace of one has been found.

The discovery nonetheless offers a rare, exceptionally clear glimpse of a world that has long since disappeared.

"This latest research gives us a remarkable insight into the life – and death – of this particular individual," says archaeologist David Jennings, CEO of York Archaeology.

"We may never know what brought this man to the arena where we believe he may have been fighting for the entertainment of others, but it is remarkable that the first osteo-archaeological evidence for this kind of gladiatorial combat has been found so far from the Colosseum of Rome."

The research was published in PLOS ONE.