Ancient Roman gladiators were often pitted against animals in the arena—animals capable of killing a human being. Skeletal remains in a Roman burial ground in northern England were found to have lesions that looked suspiciously like bite marks.

In Rome's Colosseum and other amphitheaters in cities scattered across the sprawling ancient Roman Empire, gladiatorial spectacles were not merely human-versus-human affairs. Gladiators also were pitted against animals.

Researchers compared puncture marks on an 1,800-year-old skeleton in the UK to various animal bites, and concluded that the individual was likely bitten by a lion.