Gladiator bones finally confirm human-animal combat in Roman Europe
Archeologists in the UK and Ireland recently uncovered a rare find: the skeletal remains of a gladiator from Roman-era England. The bones not only help experts better understand the lives of fighters—they reveal who they fought against for the crowds' entertainment. And according to a study published April 23 in the journal PLOS One, the skeleton displays the first-ever evidence of human-animal combat in Europe during the Roman Empire.
Gladiator combat is a well-documented aspect of ancient Roman society, but the physical remains of fighters have remained elusive. Due to this lack of bodily evidence, experts have instead long relied on historical accounts, artifacts, and artwork to learn about gladiator combats. Contemporary textual evidence indicates that in addition to humans, organizers forced combatants and prisoners to face large animal predators. Events known as 'venationes' (beast hunts) pitted trained and armed human performers against lions, boars, bears, elephants, and other animals. Meanwhile, 'damnatio ad bestios' battles focused on reenacting mythical stories involving wild animals, often as backdrops for public executions.
Despite written evidence and physical relics like weapons and armor, the lack of forensic information made it especially challenging for historians and archeologists. For example, it remained unclear if gladiator matches held as much importance in Roman-occupied regions like Britain as they did in Rome itself. Images of these spectacles survive to the present-day, but no direct links have supported human-animal gladiator matches in Roman Britain. However, analysis of a man's skeleton excavated near York appears to finally offer concrete confirmation of the gruesome entertainment.
According to study authors, the remains were initially discovered during a city development project nearly two decades ago in a larger gravesite. Recent bioarcheological examination and isotopic analysis indicated the individual was a 26-35 year old local at the time of his death, and was buried around 200-300 CE near Eboracum, the Roman city that preceded York. His cause of death starkly contrasted with other nearby remains.
Experts previously noted a number of depressions on his pelvis resembling carnivore bites. After creating a three-dimensional scan of the area, researchers then compared the indentations to various animals' teeth marks. Additional consultation from zoologists confirmed a large cat such as a lion likely caused the injuriesby. Given their placement, the study authors also theorized the bites occurred as the predator was scavenging the body around his time of death.
'The implications of our multidisciplinary study are huge,' Maynooth University professor of archeology and study lead author Tim Thompson said in a statement. '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.'
David Jennings, CEO of the independent charity organization York Archeology that contributed to the study, said the newest findings also spoke to the latest advancements in the field.
'One of the wonderful things about archaeology is that we continue to make discoveries even years after a dig has concluded,' he said. '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.'
The first proof of human-animal combat in Roman Britain also helps clarify and situate regional culture during this time period.
'As tangible witnesses to spectacles in Britain's Roman amphitheatres, the bitemarks help us appreciate these spaces as settings for brutal demonstrations of power,' explained John Pearce, a study co-author and classics professor at King's College London. 'They make an important contribution to desanitizing our Roman past.'
'We may never know what brought this man to the arena where we believe he may have been fighting for the entertainment of others,' added Jennings. '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.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
7 hours ago
- Gizmodo
Climate Disasters Hit the Brain Before Babies Are Even Born, Study Suggests
When Superstorm Sandy made a beeline for New York City in October 2012, it flooded huge swaths of downtown Manhattan, leaving 2 million people without electricity and heat and damaging tens of thousands of homes. The storm followed a sweltering summer in New York City, with a procession of heat waves nearing 100 degrees. For those who were pregnant at the time, enduring these extreme conditions wasn't just uncomfortable—it may have left a lasting imprint on their children's brains. That's according to a new study published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One. Using MRI scans, researchers at Queens College, City University of New York, found that children whose mothers lived through Superstorm Sandy had distinct brain differences that could hinder their emotional development. The effects were even more dramatic when people were exposed to extreme heat during their pregnancy, in addition to the tropical storm, the researchers found. 'It's not just one climate stressor or one isolated event, but rather a combination of everything,' said Donato DeIngeniis, the lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuropsychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. DeIngeniis' study is the first of its kind to examine the joint effects of natural disasters and extreme heat—events that often coincide. A few years ago, scientists dubbed summer 'danger season' since it's a time of colliding risks, including heat, hurricanes, wildfires, and toxic smoke. And summertime temperatures keep climbing to new heights. The study analyzed brain imaging data from a group of 34 children, approximately 8 years old, whose mothers were pregnant during Superstorm Sandy—some of whom were pregnant at the time that Sandy made landfall, and some of whom were exposed to heat 95 degrees F or higher during their pregnancy. While the researchers didn't find that heat alone had much of an impact, living through Superstorm Sandy led to an increase in the basal ganglia's volume, a part of the brain that deals with regulating emotions. While that larger size could be a compensation in response to stress, changes in the basal ganglia have been linked to behavioral challenges for children, such as depression and autism, DeIngeniis said. 'What we are seeing is compelling evidence that the climate crisis is not just an environmental emergency, it is potentially a neurological one with consequence for future generations who will inherit our planet,' said Duke Shereen, a co-author of the study and the director of the MRI facility at CUNY Graduate Center, in a press release. Global warming made Superstorm Sandy more damaging as a result of rising sea levels and higher ocean temperatures that might have amped up its rainfall. Yoko Nomura, a co-author of the study and a psychology professor at the Queens College, CUNY, said that the time before birth is 'very, very sensitive' for development because the fetus' body is changing so drastically. The human brain grows the most rapidly in the womb, reaching more than a third of its full adult volume before birth, according to the study. Any added stress at that time, even if small, 'can have a much bigger impact,' Nomura said. But that extra-sensitive period also presents a window of opportunity. 'Developmental science, including the science in this paper, is exciting because it not only tells us what we can do to protect children from the effects of climate change, but it also tells us when we can step in to protect children to make the greatest difference,' Lindsey Burghardt, chief science officer at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, said in an email. Although there's a lot of evidence that prenatal stress generally can affect child brain development, according to DeIngeniis, research on climate-related stress specifically is lacking. 'It is still a field that has potential for explosive growth,' said Jennifer Barkin, a professor at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia, who is studying the effects of last year's Hurricane Helene on maternal health. DeIngeniis' study offers concrete evidence of how climate-charged events can affect the brain, Barkin said. 'People have a hard time sometimes with mental health, because it's not like you can take an X-ray and see a broken bone.' But it's easier to understand imaging showing a difference in brain volume based on exposure to environmental stress, she said. Barkin, who developed an index for measuring maternal health after childbirth, says that people are beginning to pay more attention to mothers and their mental health—not just in terms of delivering a healthy baby, but over the long term. 'We tend to focus things on the child's outcome, which is important, but to keep the child healthy, the mother has to be healthy, too,' she said. 'Because when Mom's struggling, the family's going to struggle.' This article originally appeared in Grist at Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
‘Spectacular' temple dedicated to Ancient Greek God uncovered by archaeologists: 2,700-year-old treasures found
Archaeologists have unearthed a 'spectacular' ancient temple housing hundreds of statues dedicated to the Greek God Apollo. The site, known as the Sanctuary of Apollo, is located in a remote valley in Cyprus, and the uncovered artifacts are believed to date back 2,700 years. A team of German experts initially began excavating in the area in 2021, with the finds of their four-year dig disclosed in a statement from the Cyprus Department of Antiquities. '[The sanctuary] was furnished with a lavish abundance of votive statues numbering in the hundreds, some of which were of colossal dimensions,' the statement, translated from Greek to English, read. 'In addition, evidence of other previously unknown types of votive objects was also found, such as marbled glass beads or Egyptian amulets made of faience [tin-glazed pottery].' The site, known as the Sanctuary of Apollo, is located in a remote valley in Cyprus, and the uncovered artifacts are believed to date back 2,700 years. Department of Antiquities Cyprus Three ancient statues from the Apollo sanctuary at Frangissa. Department of Antiquities Cyprus Apollo, the Greek god of archery and the son of Zeus, was a prominent deity in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. The Sanctuary of Apollo was first discovered by German archaeologist Max Ohnefalsch-Richter in 1885, and was 'considered one of the most spectacular finds of its time.' However, following his 'inadequate' excavations, Ohnefalsch-Richter reburied the site, causing its precise whereabouts to be forgotten for over a century. In 2021, the new team of German archaeologists rediscovered the long-lost temple in the remote valley of Frangrissa, near the ancient city-kingdom of Tamassos. After conducting a more extensive examination of the site, they uncovered treasures that were initially overlooked, including fragments of colossal statues, parts of which appeared to be feet. 'Apparently in 1885 [the votive statues] were not recognized as artifacts in the rush,' the new statement from the Cyprus Department of Antiquities declared. Thus, the new finds 'fundamentally expand our knowledge of this sacred place.' 'Μany statues in the Cyprus Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum at Toronto can be completed with newly found fragments and thus restored to their original appearance,' the statement continued. 'Completely new types of statues have also been documented that were previously unknown from Frangissa. The discovery of clearly larger-than-life feet, for example, means that the existence of colossal male limestone figures from archaic times can now be proven.' 'Such larger-than-life figures were previously only known here in Frangissa made from terracotta, including the famous 'Colossus of Tamassos' in the Cyprus Museum exhibition.' Meanwhile, the discovery of two inscriptions on the bases of the figures dates them to the 6th and 7th centuries BC. 'The discovery of two bases with inscriptions is spectacular,' the statement read. 'One is inscribed with several local Cypro-Syllabic characters, while the other refers in Greek letters to the Ptolemies, the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt who also controlled Cyprus at the time.'
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Gizmodo
Neanderthals Spread Across Asia With Surprising Speed—and Now We Know How
Neanderthals and modern humans split from a common ancestor around 500,000 years ago, with Neanderthals leaving Africa for Europe and Asia long before modern humans joined them hundreds of thousands of years later. There, Neanderthals dispersed as far as Spain and Siberia. Our prehistoric cousins likely first reached Asia around 190,000 to 130,000 years ago, with another substantial migration to Central and Eastern Eurasia likely between 120,000 and 60,000 years ago. But how did they get there? Since there isn't enough archaeological evidence to reconstruct their migration paths, a team of anthropologists has turned to computer models. Their simulations mapped out possible routes Neanderthals could have followed to reach Asia, and suggest that by traveling during warmer periods and following river valleys, they could have traversed approximately 2,000 miles (3,250 kilometers) in less than 2,000 years. 'Our findings show that, despite obstacles like mountains and large rivers, Neanderthals could have crossed northern Eurasia surprisingly quickly,' Emily Coco, co-author of a study published yesterday in the journal PLOS One, said in a New York University statement. 'These findings provide important insights into the paths of ancient migrations that cannot currently be studied from the archaeological record and reveal how computer simulations can help uncover new clues about ancient migrations that shaped human history.' Coco began the study as a doctoral student at New York University and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Algarve. She and her colleague's models accounted for temperature, land elevation, ancient rivers, and glaciers. While scholars had previously used a similar approach to simulate human and animal movement, the anthropologists are the first to apply it to Neanderthals, according to the statement. In doing so, they found potential migration paths during two time periods characterized by a warmer climate: around 125,000 years ago and 60,000 years ago. The different paths, which made use of river valleys, would have taken Neanderthals to Eurasia's Siberian Altai Mountains along roughly the same northern route through the Ural Mountains and southern Siberia within 2,000 years. Significantly, the paths align with known Neanderthal archaeological sites as well as areas occupied by Denisovans, with whom scientists know Neanderthals interbred. 'Neanderthals could have migrated thousands of kilometers from the Caucasus Mountains to Siberia in just 2,000 years by following river corridors,' Radu Iovita, the other co-author of the study and an associate professor at NYU's Center for the Study of Human Origins, said in the statement. 'Others have speculated on the possibility of this kind of fast, long-distance migration based on genetic data, but this has been difficult to substantiate due to limited archaeological evidence in the region. Based on detailed computer simulations, it appears this migration was a near-inevitable outcome of landscape conditions during past warm climatic periods.' Coco and Iovita specify, however, that their model does not consider every possible element that could have influenced Neanderthal movement, such as resources, climate change, short-term weather patterns, vegetation preferences, and previous occupations, among others. Still, in the absence of archaeological records, computer simulations provide a viable method of tracing the footsteps of prehistoric people—even though it's not nearly as creative as searching for pitstops in Viking migration routes by sailing a Nordic clinker boat along the frigid Norwegian coast.
