This is definitely intriguing. An archaeological dig near York in northern England may have uncovered a gladiator cemetery.
About 80 remains have been found since the investigation began in 2004, with more than half of them decapitated.Lions and tigers not being found in that part of the world, I'd say that theory's as good as any other.Researchers believe they may form part of the world’s only well-preserved Roman gladiator cemetery.
Kurt Hunter-Mann, a field officer at York Archaeological Trust who is leading the investigation, said: “The skulls were literally found somewhere else in the grave — not on top of the shoulders.
“We could see that in quite a few cases the skulls had been chopped with some kind of heavy bladed weapon, a sword or in one or two cases an axe.
“But they were buried with a degree of care. There are no mass pits. Most of them are buried individually.”
He said that bite marks on one of the skeletons helped to steer the team to its initial theory.
“One of the most significant items of evidence is a large carnivore bite mark — probably inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear — an injury which must have been sustained in an arena context.
It's fascinating that there were apparently some animal remains buried in the same grave as one of the most impressive human specimens, a man decapitated by several blows to the neck. The theory is that those might have been part of the funeral feast.
"Hmm. No more meat on this haunch."
"Throw it in with old Flavius there; he won't mind."
Posted by Linkmeister at June 7, 2010 03:38 PM | TrackBack