The first physical evidence that gladiators fought animals during the Roman period has been confirmed by researchers.
An academic from Maynooth University in Co Kildare was part of the groundbreaking study.
Professor Tim Thompson, Professor of Anthropology and Vice President for Students & Learning at Maynooth University, made the discovery by forensically analysing a pelvic bone from a Roman-period cemetery outside York in England.
"What we've found is evidence of a bite mark from a large carnivore like a lion. This is quite exciting because this is the first time that we have had physical evidence of gladiators fighting in the Roman period in the world. Everything else is written, text or pictures, but this is physical evidence from the body itself.
"We can see evidence of the canine teeth, of the incisors or the impressions that have been left in the pelvis. There are multiple impressions as well, which suggests that it's a bite mark, as opposed to a weapon and you can see it on both sides of the pelvis.
"What we think has happened here, because they are unusual in terms of location, we think that the individual had been incapacitated in some way. That the lion then grabbed onto him and was dragging him away."
The grave, which was uncovered a number of years ago during construction work, is believed to contain the remains of around 20 gladiators.
Prof Thompson said: "There was redevelopment on the edge of York and, as part of that, the archaeological investigation ... revealed these graves. These individuals in the graves, they had lots of heel trauma, lots of evidence of repeated violence. It was very male dominated and individuals had been decapitated."
The discovery sheds new light on the history of Roman Britain and that gladiator battles took place beyond the core of the Roman Empire.
"That sense of spectacle and arena activities was prevalent across the Roman Empire and that was, in a way, how the Roman Empire was able to create cultural connectivity between the provinces.
"We see arenas, not as grand as the Colosseum [in Rome], but around the Empire and we have examples from the UK. It also gives us an insight into the transport of these exotic animals around the Roman Empire," Prof Thompson said.
Forensic technology was used in the research project and Prof Thompson believes it will lead the way for more progress in this field.
"We're used to seeing animal activity on human remains, but we know from forensic studies that different species of animals leave different sorts of marks. We know that they attack in different sorts of ways.
"Because we have no evidence in the UK or Ireland of lions attacking people, we then worked with zoos to have a look at the marks left on the food that lions, cheetahs and those sorts of animals were eating and then apply those findings to this," project.
While a Maynooth man, Paul Mescal, recently brought the story of Gladiators to life on the big screen, Maynooth University say it is proud of Prof Thompson's connection to this major discovery.
The research, published in the journal of science and medical research PLoS One, is a collaboration between 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.
For Prof Thompson there is also a thrill in uncovering new information in this much studied field
"It's always fantastic when you're discovering something genuinely unique and to be able to offer that to the academic community, but also just to people who are interested in this subject as well as part of our collective history," he said.
