Though dramatic images of ancient Roman gladiators fighting great beasts like lions and tigers have appeared in books and films for decades, archaeologists never had any direct proof that such battles actually took place — until now.

A Roman skeleton found in York shows bite marks from a lion, offering the first physical evidence of gladiators fighting wild animals.

Bite marks discovered on the skeleton of a gladiator in Roman-era England suggest the man faced off with a lion in the arena, according to a new study.