1,700-year-old battered bear skull discovered by Roman arena — and its injuries suggest it fought in a gladiatorial stadium
The skull beaten with a brown bear discovered near an Roman amphitheater in Serbia reveals that the wild animal was kept in captivity for years and was fighting with an infection at his death about 1,700 years ago.
The conclusion is the first direct proof of the use of bears in the gladiator arena and attests the barbarism of animal glasses in the Roman Empire.
“We cannot say with certainty if the bear died directly in the arena, but the evidence suggest that the trauma occurred during the shows and the following infection probably contributed significantly to his death”, the main author of the study Nemanja MarkovićA main research partner at the Belgrade Archeology Institute, told Live Science in an email.
In a study published Monday (September 1) in the journal AntiquityMarković and his colleagues detailed their analysis of the fragmented skull of a brown bear (Ursus Arctos) excavated in 2016 near the amphitheater at ViminaciumA military base of the Roman border in current Serbia.
The Viminacium amphitheater was built in the second century AD in the shape of an oval with high walls, it could accommodate around 7,000 people. Archaeologists have recovered the bear skull near the entrance to the amphitheater, as well as a number of other animal bones, including those of a leopardThe researchers noted in the study.
“Previous research suggests that animals killed in the arena has been massacred nearby, their meat distributed and bones thrown near the amphitheater – not buried in a formal animal cemetery“Said Marković.
The bears forced to participate in these old glasses played a variety of roles. They could be made to fight “Venomous“Gladiators specializing in hunting; fighting with other animals; to perform condemned; or give qualified performances.
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The analysis of researchers on the brown bear skull revealed how brutal these glasses were for animals.
Use of the old DNA Analysis, the researchers determined that the bear was a man and was from the region, and his teeth suggested that he was about 6 years old when he died. Carbon dating Animal bones in the area where the bear was found gave a dates beach from 240 to 350 AD, an era when the Viminacium amphitheater regularly hosted gladiator games.
A great lesion on the front of the bear’s skull has shown signs of healing but also signs of infection, suggesting that he was fighting with the injury to death. This traumatic injury could have been imposed by a “Venator” equipped with a spear, the researchers wrote in the study.
The animal’s jaws have also shown evidence of infection and researchers have identified abnormal wear on its canine teeth. The captive bears are known to chew the bars of their cages, noted the researchers, which can lead to the types of dental and jaw problems observed in this old bear.
“This bear has probably been kept in captivity for years, not only weeks,” said Marković, in which case he would have been repeatedly in Roman glasses in Viminacium.
Although historical files mention the use of brown bears in gladiator glasses, “this study provides the first direct osteological evidence of the participation of brown bears in Roman glasses”, concluded the researchers and offer an overview of the use and treatment of animals in the Roman Empire.
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