Bite marks, possibly from a lion, on a human skeleton found in a 1,800-year-old cemetery on the outskirts of York offer the first material evidence of combat or hunts between humans and animals for spectacle in the amphitheatres of the Roman Empire. When reporting the news, numerous newspapers, TV channels, magazines, websites, and social media pages incorrectly headline the story as "gladiator vs. lion," instead of using terms such as venator, meaning "hunter of beasts," or bestiarius, meaning "fighter against wild beasts."
Gladiators in the Imperial period fought exclusively against humans. This mistake was made by Professor Tim Thompson of Maynooth University, the researcher, who, to simplify the story for journalists and generate media attention, used the term gladiator, which was later corrected. However, the media immediately seized the opportunity to create sensational headlines and has since labelled the skeleton as that of a gladiator, implying that gladiators fought beasts in amphitheatres. The news reports that a recently examined skeleton from York, England, believed to date back to the 3rd century AD, exhibits clear signs of a fatal encounter with a large predatory feline, possibly a lion.
The skeleton, belonging to a man aged between 26 and 35, was discovered nearly twenty years ago during an archaeological excavation at Driffield Terrace, a burial site near the Roman city of Eboracum, now York, where about 80 gladiator graves have been found. York at the time was a Roman city and mainly a legionary fortress, making it the second-largest population centre in Britain after Londinium, now known as London. The research confirms that the man had been bitten in the pelvis, in two separate places, in a pattern similar to the jaws of a large cat, such as a lion, leopard, or tiger. However, the depth of the bite suggests a lion.
The team, using 3D scanning and comparison with bite patterns from zoo animals and animals from the African savannah, determined that the wounds were most likely inflicted during the man's final moments.

Adding to the mystery, the man had been decapitated, a feature common to most of the more than 80 skeletons found at the site, dating from the 1st to 4th centuries AD.
Researchers have hypothesised that the decapitation may have been carried out to end the man's suffering or as a demonstration of Roman custom. Further analysis of the man's bones revealed spinal problems due to overuse and limb abnormalities resulting from constant physical stress, characteristics that suggested physical issues related to continuous training.
What makes this discovery so extraordinary is that physical evidence of combat between humans and wild animals is extremely rare. The widespread diffusion of thousands of artistic and literary depictions, such as mosaics and Latin texts, often depict venatores, i.e., animal hunters, or bestiarii, i.e., animal fighters, in amphitheatres. Skeletal remains indicating such encounters have been virtually nonexistent until now.
The bite marks on the man's hip match those caused by large cats. Still, large cats typically kill their prey by biting the head or neck, thus eliminating the possibility that it was a death sentence, the famous damnatio ad bestias, or sentence of being devoured by beasts, reserved for certain criminals during the Imperial period.
Furthermore, in cities with legions, such as York, this sentence was not practised due to specific imperial regulations.
According to the study and analysis of the dentition, the feline most likely originated in North Africa. A lion or another feline was likely transported along established supply routes, which also carried large quantities of wine, oil, and grain across the Mediterranean and continental Europe to York, given that it was a legionary base.
The movement of vast numbers of wild animals, used in Roman spectacles, is well known, although it has been criticised by many for the effects it had on ancient fauna. The story is told without regard to moral judgments.