Remains thought to be female gladiator

By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press

LONDON (September 12, 2000) -- A young woman cremated and buried
with costly goods centuries ago in Roman London may be the first
found female gladiator, archaeologists said Tuesday.

The woman in her 20s, identified by a fragment of a pelvis, was
buried with one dish decorated with the image a fallen
gladiator, and other vessels with symbols associated with
gladiators, said Hedley Swain, head of the Early Department at
the Museum of London.

Specialists at the museum believe it may be the first discovery
of a female gladiator's grave anywhere in the world.

"There is evidence of a very exotic and high-status feast,
including dates, almonds, figs and a dove," Swain said. There
were also remains of pine cones imported from the Mediterranean,
which apparently were burned as incense.

Three lamps found in the grave were decorated with images of the
Egyptian god Anubis. This jackal-headed deity was associated
with the Roman god Mercury, and Swain noted that slaves dressed
as Mercury were employed to drag away the bodies from
amphitheaters.

Jenny Hall, curator of early London history at the museum,
estimated there was a 70 percent chance this was a female
gladiator.

"The fact that we have this association with gladiators
indicates that she was a gladiator, or someone deeply involved
with gladiators," Hall said.

"It is obviously quite a wealthy burial," she added.

It has long been known that women fought as gladiators.

There is an inscription in Pompeii which refers to women in the
arena, and to the Emperor Septimius Severus, who ruled from A.D.
193 to 211.

Gladiator graves have been excavated at Trier, Germany, but
these did not include the trappings of wealth, Hall said.

The grave was found within a walled Roman cemetery on the south
bank of the Thames, in what is now Southwark.

Archaeologists from the museum also continue to analyze the
results of their excavations of the Roman amphitheater found
near the Guildhall in the financial district.

That amphitheater had room for 7,000 spectators, which would
have been about a third of the population of Roman London.