Tooth Marks Found on 2nd-3rd Century Remains
"Evidence of Brutal Entertainment Practices in Roman Times"
Ancient Roman gladiator remains, believed to bear lion tooth marks, have been discovered in the United Kingdom. This finding is drawing attention as it could serve as the first physical evidence that fights between gladiators and animals, as depicted in movies like "Gladiator," actually took place during that era.
An Ireland-UK joint research team led by Professor Tim Thompson of Maynooth University in Ireland announced on April 24 through the international journal "PLoS ONE" that they had identified bite marks from a large carnivore on the skeletal remains.
The remains studied by the team were excavated from the Driffield Terrace cemetery near the ancient Roman city of Eboracum in the York region of the UK. The burial is estimated to date back to the 2nd or 3rd century.
The present-day York area was the Roman city of Eboracum around the 3rd to 4th centuries. The Roman Empire had driven out the native Celts and occupied the land of Britain from the 1st to the 5th century.
This cemetery is considered one of the best-preserved gladiator burial sites in the world, with over 80 well-preserved skeletons of young men being discovered since 2004.
According to analysis of the dental enamel of the remains, those buried there came from various provinces of the Roman Empire. The presence of special burial rituals and numerous traces of training and violence have strengthened the argument that those buried were gladiators, not ordinary soldiers or slaves.
The research team scanned the marks left on the skeletons in 3D and compared them to bite marks from various animals using modern zoological specimens. As a result, they determined that the marks on the hip bone and other areas matched the tooth marks of felines such as lions.
The gladiator’s age at death is estimated to have been between 26 and 35 years old, and it is believed that he ultimately died because the bite wounds did not heal.
The research team stated, "The image of a gladiator being bitten by a lion appears frequently in Roman mosaics, pottery, and sculptures, but until now, such evidence had never been confirmed in skeletal remains. This is evidence of the brutality of Roman-era entertainment practices and shows that such gladiatorial contests spread widely beyond the Roman region at the time."
They added, "This discovery provides a new resource for understanding Roman Britain and presents new possibilities for research into life in this region."
Professor Thompson commented, "Until now, our understanding of Roman gladiators fighting wild beasts like lions has relied heavily on historical texts and artistic depictions. This discovery is the first direct physical evidence to show that such events actually took place, and it has changed our perception of Roman entertainment culture."
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