Search to find Roman amphitheatre in York

AN amphitheatre the size of a football pitch could be lying undiscovered beneath the streets of York.

The claim came after the discovery of about 80 skeletons of men thought to have been gladiators.

As reported yesterday in The Press, the skeletons were discovered during a dig at Driffield Terrace, in Holgate.

Kurt Hunter-Mann, a field officer at York Archaeological Trust, said if the men were gladiators then it is likely there was an amphitheatre nearby.

He said: “We would be talking about something approaching the size of a football stadium and they are usually oval-shaped. There are probably remains of it surviving, it’s just a question of one day somebody digging in the right place and putting two and two together.

“The amphitheatre in London was only discovered in the last ten to 15 years when someone dug a trench and hit the foundations.”

The discovery of the skeletons has led to various theories about why the men were found where they were.

The suggestion they were gladiators is only one theory supported by their physical size and the fact that one of them had a bite mark consistent with that of a large carnivore like a lion. The discovery of decapitated remains is also a clue. Mr Hunter-Mann said the coup-de-grace normally meted out in arenas was a sword through the throat, but decapitation could have been a regional – or even specifically York – variation.

However, none of the skeletons had injuries obviously caused in gladiatorial fights, for example, wounds caused by the three-pointed trident.

But there are other theories. The men could have belonged to a cult persecuted by the state or were possibly soldiers.

People in York and the wider country will soon be able to examine the evidence and offer their own opinions when a new website goes live.

York Archaeological Trust will launch a website next week – headlessromans.co.uk – presenting all the evidence and inviting members of the public to make up their own mind and vote for the theory they believe is the strongest. A documentary examining the finds entitled Gladiators: Back From The Dead, will be shown on Channel 4 next Monday at 9pm.