Archaeology & History

First physical evidence of gladiators fighting wild animals found

By T.K. Randall
April 24, 2025 ·  9 comments

Gladiators fought to the death in ancient Rome. Image Credit: PD While we know from historical records that the gladiators of ancient Rome once stood toe to toe with wild animals such as lions and tigers in the arena, actual physical evidence proving that this was indeed the case has been rather thin on the ground.

This all changed recently, however, when archaeologists conducted a renewed examination of skeletal remains unearthed at Driffield Terrace - a site in York, England that was once thought to be home to a gladiator burial ground.

Of particular note were what looked like bite marks on one of the skeleton's pelvic bones.

Using modern techniques not available at the time of the original excavation back in the 1990s, Tim Thompson - a forensic anthropologist at Maynooth University in Ireland - has now been able to determine that these are in fact the bite marks of a large carnivore - most likely a lion.What's more, the marks coincide roughly with the time of the individual's death.

This essentially confirms what historical records suggest - that gladiators during the time of the Roman Empire would have engaged in combat with large wild animals in the arena.

It also shows that such fights were not restricted to just the Colosseum in Rome itself.

"The assumption has always been that maybe that [artifacts from Roman Britain] are just reflections of things happening in Rome, almost tapping into Roman myth," said Thompson.

"What we're suggesting now, actually, is that we have evidence for that spectacle happening [here in York]."

Source: Scientific American | Comments (9)

Tags: Gladiator, Romans