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.

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.

Bite marks found on the skeleton of a Roman gladiator are the first archaeological evidence of combat between a human and a lion, experts say. The remains were discovered during a 2004 dig at Driffield Terrace,