Roman-era skeleton from Britain is rare evidence of human-animal gladiator combat
The bones show evidence of bite marks from a large cat such as a lion, used in some gladiator shows
image:
Puncture injuries by large felid scavenging on both sides of bone.
view moreCredit: Thompson et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
A skeleton from Roman-era England has bite marks consistent with those of a large cat like a lion, suggesting that this individual may have died as part of a gladiator show or execution, according to a study published April 23, 2025 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Tim Thompson from Maynooth University, Ireland, and colleagues.
Records of gladiator combat in the Roman Empire have been well-documented, with evidence of both human-human conflicts and fights between humans and animals such as lions and bears. But actual gladiator remains are relatively scarce in the archaeological record — and in Britain specifically, which was occupied by the Romans from the first through fifth centuries, there has so far been no confirmed evidence of human-animal combat.
The skeleton described in the new paper was likely buried sometime between 200-300 CE, near the Roman city of Eboracum, which is now York. This site contains the remains of mostly younger men, often with evidence of trauma, which has led to speculation that it could be a gladiator burial site. This specific skeleton has a series of depressions on the pelvis, which had previously been suggested as possible evidence of carnivore bites. By creating a three-dimensional scan of these marks, the researchers on this new study could compare these marks to bites from a variety of different animals.
They determined that these marks were likely bite marks from a large cat, possibly a lion. Since they were on the pelvis, they note it’s possible that these bites came as a result of the lion scavenging on the body around the time of death.
This skeleton is the first direct, physical evidence of human-animal combat from Europe during the Roman Empire. By demonstrating the possibility of gladiatorial combat or similar spectacles in modern York, this finding also gives archaeologists and historians new insight into the life and history of Roman-era England.
Lead author Prof. Tim Thompson, of Maynooth University, adds: "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. This provides new evidence to support our understanding of the past."
Co-author Dr. John Pearce, of King's College London, adds: "As tangible witnesses to spectacles in Britain's Roman amphitheatres, the bitemarks help us appreciate these spaces as settings for brutal demonstrations of power. They make an important contribution to desanitizing our Roman past."
David Jennings, CEO of York Archaeology, adds: “One of the wonderful things about archaeology is that we continue to make discoveries even years after a dig has concluded, as research methods and technology enable us to explore the past in more detail; it is now 20 years since we unearthed 80 burials at Driffield Terrace. This latest research gives us a remarkable insight into the life – and death – of this particular individual, and adds to both previous and ongoing genome research into the origins of some of the men buried in this particular Roman cemetery. 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, which would have been the classical world’s Wembley Stadium of combat.”
Puncture injury from leopard feeding.
Credit
Thompson et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4jpsL5
Citation: Thompson TJU, Errickson D, McDonnell C, Holst M, Caffell A, Pearce J, et al. (2025) Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain. PLoS ONE 20(4): e0319847. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319847
Author countries: Ireland, U.K.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Journal
PLOS One
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain
Article Publication Date
23-Apr-2025
Study reveals skeletal evidence of Roman gladiator bitten by lion in combat
image:
Lion tooth mark on the hip bone
view moreCredit: Maynooth University
Bite marks found on a skeleton discovered in a Roman cemetery in York have revealed the first archaeological evidence of gladiatorial combat between a human and a lion.
The skeleton was excavated and examined from one of the best-preserved gladiator graveyards in the world, Driffield Terrace, where researchers announced the archaeological examination of 82 well-built young male skeletons in 2010.
Experts at the time noted from tooth enamel the wide variety of Roman provinces from around the world that the skeletons hailed from, as well as evidence of unusual funeral rites at the burial site, and deaths consistent with gladiatorial combat, such as individuals being particularly strongly built as a result of training and a high frequency of healed injuries associated with violence.
Malin Holst, lecturer in Osteoarchaeology at the University of York’s Department of Archaeology, and managing director of York Osteoarchaeology, which specialises in the excavation, analysis and reporting of human remains, said: “The bite marks were likely made by a lion, 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.”
This is the final piece of evidence from work that began in 2004, when the first skeletons were excavated at the 1800-year-old Roman cemetery, along the Roman road leading out of York to Tadcaster.
Professor Tim Thompson, from Maynooth University, Ireland, said: “For years, our understanding of Roman gladiatorial combat and animal spectacles has relied heavily on historical texts and artistic depictions. 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.”
The skeleton, a male aged between 26 and 35, was buried in a grave with two others, and overlaid with horse bones. In life, he appears to have had some issues with his spine that may have been caused by overloading to his back, inflammation of his lung and thigh, as well as malnutrition as a child, which he recovered from.
The lion bite wound - confirmed by comparing it to sample bites from a lion at a zoo - was not healed and is therefore likely to have been his cause of death. It is believed that the individual was decapitated after death, which appears to have been a ritual for some individuals in the Roman period, although the reasons for this remain unclear.
Analysis of the skeleton points towards this being a Bestarius, a gladiator role undertaken by volunteers or slaves.
Malin said: “This is a hugely exciting find because we can now start to build a better image of what these gladiators were like in life, and it also confirms the presence of large cats, and potentially other exotic animals, in arenas in cities such as York, and how how they too had to defend themselves from the threat of death.
“We often have a mental image of these combats occurring at the grand surroundings of the Colosseum in Rome, but these latest findings show that these sporting events had a far reach, well beyond the centre of core Roman territories. An amphitheatre probably existed in Roman York, but this has not yet been discovered.”
York appears to have held gladiator arena events until as late as the fourth century AD, perhaps due to the fact that there were many senior generals and politicians that held posts in the city, which included Constantine, who appointed himself emperor there in 306 AD.
The presence of distinguished Roman leaders in York would have meant they required a lavish social life, so it is not a surprise to see evidence of gladiator events, as well as such an extensive burial site for them, but it is interesting to confirm the presence of animals as large as a lion at these sites, and not just wild boar and deer, for example.
Owners of gladiators would not have wanted them to die, they were expensive ‘sports people’, not too dissimilar to footballers today, and as such they wanted them to win, to be able to fight again, and if they didn’t survive they were often provided with gifts in death to serve in the afterlife, which is evident at some of the graves at Driffield Terrace.
David Jennings, CEO of York Archaeology, said: “This latest research gives us a remarkable insight into the life – and death – of this particular individual, and adds to both previous and ongoing genome research into the origins of some of the men buried in this particular Roman cemetery.
“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, which would have been the classical world’s Wembley Stadium of combat.”
DIG: An Archaeological Adventure in St Saviourgate will host the skeleton as part of its Roman exhibition, which includes a reconstruction of the gladiator’s face.
The research, published in the Journal of Science and Medical Research PLoS One, is a collaboration between the University of York, Maynooth University, Cranfield University, Durham University, King’s College London, York Archaeology, and York Osteoarchaeology Ltd.
Journal
PLOS One
New study shows first skeletal evidence of gladiator bitten by lion in Roman period
Research reveals first physical evidence of human-animal gladiatorial combat in the Roman Empire
video:
Prof Tim Thompson of Ireland's Maynooth University speaks about new research about Roman Gladiators in Britain
view moreCredit: Maynooth University
A groundbreaking study has uncovered the first physical evidence of human-animal gladiatorial combat in the Roman period.
The research presents compelling skeletal evidence of a human victim attacked by a large carnivorous animal, likely within the context of Roman-era spectacle combat. It was conducted by an international team of archaeologists and osteologists, led by Tim Thompson, Professor of Anthropology and Vice President for Students and Learning at Ireland's Maynooth University.
While images of gladiators being bitten by lions have appeared in ancient mosaics and pottery, this is the only convincing skeletal evidence using forensic experiments anywhere in the world of bite marks produced by the teeth of a large cat, such as a lion.
The findings centre on a single skeleton discovered in a Roman-period cemetery outside York in England, a site believed to contain the remains of gladiators. The individual’s bones exhibited distinct lesions that, upon close examination and comparison with modern zoological specimens, were identified as bite marks from a large feline species. The bite marks on the pelvis of the skeleton represent the first osteological confirmation of human interaction with large carnivores in a combat or entertainment setting in the Roman world.
Lead author Prof Thompson, outlined the significance of the discovery: “For years, our understanding of Roman gladiatorial combat and animal spectacles has relied heavily on historical texts and artistic depictions. 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.”
The research, published in the journal of science and medical research PLOS One, is a collaboration between leading institutions including Maynooth University, Cranfield University, Durham University, the University of York, King’s College London, York Archaeological Trust, now known as York Archaeology, and York Osteoarchaeology Ltd. It highlights the brutality of these spectacles and their reach beyond Rome’s core territories.
The study contributes a vital new dimension to our knowledge of Roman Britain, reinforcing the region’s deep connection to the empire’s entertainment traditions. These findings offer new avenues for research into the presence of exotic animals in Roman-period Britain and the lives of those involved in gladiatorial combat.
The full research paper, Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain, is available here.
Authors:
Lead: Professor Tim Thompson, Department of Anthropology, Maynooth University, Ireland
Dr David Errickson, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, UK; Christine McDonnell, York Archaeology, UK; Malin Holst, Department of Archaeology, University of York & York Osteoarchaeology, UK; Dr Anwen Caffell, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK; Dr John Pearce, Department of Classics, King’s College London, UK; Prof Rebecca L. Gowland, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK
Journal
PLOS One
Method of Research
Case study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain
Article Publication Date
23-Apr-2025
Marble relief with lion and gladiator
Credit
© The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Lesions on the left iliac spine of 6DT19
Credit
From the research paper: Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain
Lesion on the left iliac spine of 6DT19
Credit
From the research paper: Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain
Lesion on the right ilium of 6DT19
Credit
From the research paper: Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain
