A year-long examine of the drainage system below the Colosseum has unearthed fragments of the bones of bears and large cats that had been in all probability used to struggle or as prey in searching video games within the historic Roman area, archaeologists stated on Thursday.
Different discoveries embody greater than 50 bronze cash from the late Roman interval in addition to a silver coin from round 170-171 AD to commemorate 10 years of rule of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, they added in a press release.
Seeds from fruits comparable to figs, grapes and melons in addition to traces of olives and nuts — thought to point what spectators snacked on throughout exhibits — had been additionally recovered from the two 000-year-old stone amphitheatre.
The examine, which started in January, concerned the clearance of round 70 metres of drains and sewers below the Colosseum and is seen as shedding mild on its later years earlier than it fell into disuse round 523 AD.
Alfonsina Russo, Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, stated the discoveries “deepen our understanding of the expertise and habits of those that got here to this place through the lengthy days devoted to the performances”.
