Unique osteological evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat in Roman Britain
The spectacle of Roman gladiatorial combat captures the public imagination and elicits significant scholarly interest. Skeletal evidence associated with gladiatorial combat is rare, with most evidence deriving from written or visual sources. A single skeleton from a Roman cemetery outside of York where gladiators arguably were buried presented with unusual lesions. Investigation, including comparative work from modern zoological institutions, has demonstrated that these marks originate from large cat scavenging. Thus, we present the first physical evidence for human-animal gladiatorial combat from the Roman period seen anywhere in Europe.
Authors
- Malin Holst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4183-7574)
- Rebecca Gowland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5909-6460)
- John M. Pearce (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8503-5485)
- Christine McDonnell
- Tim Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3265-524X)
- David Errickson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9792-671X)
- Anwen Caffell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8088-5838)
Institutions
- National University of Ireland, Maynooth (IE)
- King's College London (GB)
- Durham University (GB)
- York Archaeological Trust (GB)
- York Osteoarchaeology (United Kingdom) (GB)
- University of York (GB)
- Cranfield University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PLoS ONE
- Published
- 2025-04-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0319847
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.27