London, England (CNN) -- Heads hacked off, a bite from a lion, tiger or bear, massive muscles on massive men -- all clues that an ancient cemetery uncovered in northern England is the final resting place of gladiators, scientists have announced after seven years of investigations.
The archeological dig has found "what may be the world's only well-preserved Roman gladiator cemetery," the York Archaeological Trust said.
Scientists have found 80 skeletons in the "unique" cemetery under the city of York, northern England, since 2003.
They announced their discoveries on Sunday, ahead of a documentary about the site due to air in Britain on June 14. This was one of two big archaeological developments, with Israeli scientists announcing the discovery of a huge cache of ancient religious objects.
They first thought the graveyard might contain the remains of criminals or political purges.
But that doesn't explain the teeth mark.
"One of the most significant items of evidence is a large carnivore bite mark - probably inflicted by a lion, tiger or bear -- an injury which must have been sustained in an arena context, " said Kurt Hunter-Mann, the lead archeologist on the dig.
"Nothing like them has ever been identified before on a Roman skeleton," said Michael Wysocki, who examined the remains in the forensic anthropology laboratory at the University of Central Lancashire.
He said the bite marks suggest the remains were of someone who fought as a gladiator.
"It would seem highly unlikely that this individual was attacked by a tiger as he was walking home from the pub in York 2,000 years ago," he said.
One arm was bigger than the other in many remains, the scientists found -- a suggestion that the men were gladiators who trained from a young age with a weapon in one hand.
Other clues include healed and unhealed weapon injuries, possible hammer blows to the head, and burial with "grave goods" such joints of meat or pottery -- a sign of respect.
It's not certain that the men were gladiators, Hunter-Mann cautioned.
"The research is continuing and we must, therefore, keep an open mind," the archeologist said.
But "almost all the individuals are male, very robust and mostly above average height -- features which would also be consistent with a gladiator interpretation. Many also have muscle attachment marks on their arm bones suggesting severe muscle stress," he said.
They also appear to come from all over the Roman empire, which straddled the Mediterranean for hundreds of years, starting more than 2,000 years ago.
"These are internationally important discoveries. We don't have any other potential gladiator cemeteries with this level of preservation anywhere else in the world," Wysocki said.
The skeletons are between 1,600 and 1,900 years old.
The most impressive grave was that of a tall man aged between 18 and 23, buried, probably in a coffin, in a large oval grave about 1,700 years ago. He had been decapitated by several sword blows to the neck, the scientists said.
Buried with him were what appear to have been the remains of substantial joints of meat from at least four horses -- that left behind 424 horse bones -- possibly consumed at the funeral, plus some cow and pig remains.
Other graves also had joints of horse, sheep or chicken, possibly remains of funeral feasts, the archeologists speculated.
The site was first discovered when archeologists probed an area scheduled for a housing development in 2003.
Also on Monday, Israeli archeologists announced the discovery of a huge cache of religious objects about 3,500 years old -- older than the Bible itself, and nearly twice the age of the Roman skeletons.
"It would appear that the vessels were used in a pagan cult that worshipped idols. During this period it was customary that each city had a temple of its own where special cultic vessels were used," said archaeologists Uzi Ad and Edwin van den Brink.
They include a vessel that was used for burning incense, a sculpted face of a woman that was part of a cultic cup used in dedicating a libation to a god, goblets and bowls with high bases and tableware that was intended for eating and drinking, the Israel Antiquities Authority said.
Scientists called the discovery "extremely rare" -- both because it is so old and because the objects are so well preserved.
Some of them had been brought from Mycenae in Greece, including a storage vessel for precious oils -- evidence of the ancient trade relations that existed with Greece, they said.
"It would seem highly unlikely that this individual was attacked by a tiger as he was walking home from the pub in York 2,000 years ago," ... Now that's pretty funny stuff. :)
Um, I mean, Red Faction: Armageddon... which only happens to be set on Mars and involve fighting against "forces that unleashed Armageddon on the planet"... yeah, I can't imagine why I chose the title that I did.
Red Faction was cool though, deformable terrain is awesome. Didn't the most recent Red Faction pretty much only have destroyable buildings, though, not environments? We need destroyable environments again... :)
Quote:Square Enix has revealed that it’s to partner with Obsidian Entertainment to bring Dungeon Seige 3 to the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Dungeon Seige 3 is to combine the best features of the franchise in its first appearance on the HD consoles, bringing a new cooperative mode and allowing four players to join.
“It is an honour and a pleasure to be part of the legend of DUNGEON SIEGE,” said Fergus Urquhart, CEO and co-founder of Obsidian Entertainment. This partnership with Square Enix is a milestone for the franchise and Obsidian, and the qualities of both companies in terms of scenario will be visible throughout the game ”
“We are honoured to work with talented developers Obsidian Entertainment, which can rely on their balance sheets among the most exhilarating game and grabbing the last few years,” said John Yamamoto, president and CEO of Square Enix, Inc.. Square Enix has committed to expand its catalogue of games by offering a wide range of genres and we’re confident we can provide the ultimate experience of Dungeon Siege that fans expect. ”
There is not a lot of other information regarding Dungeon Siege at the moment; however E3 is just around the corner so expect more then.
Apparently so! My copy should get here by Saturday, or maybe Monday, so I'll give you guys some first-hand impressions, but some of the guys from another forum I frequent are really in love with it.
Quote:In terms of character building and story, it's brilliant and the affects on the story and situations based on that are incredible. It's one of the deepest games I've ever played in that regard. The characters are also fleshed out quite well, not only from personal encounters but by the excellent email system.
Quote:I think it would be easier to ask, "what don't I like about AP?" because then I'd just say...occasional weak graphics and buggiest game I've ever played. Everytime I play for 5 hours I hit at least one bug per hour. Also I think there are some mandatory alarms in the game (not 100% sure on this) which is frustrating if you are going for a perfect no alarms, no kills run like I am.
Everything else about the game is perfect. The only wrpg I've ever played that has been this good has been Fallout 2. It's not just that the story/character relations is amazing next gen stuff that blows away every game ever made. The gameplay is SO GOOD. If you play stealth like I am and try to get through every stage without being seen and not killing anyone, the game is better than MGS or SC in pure stealth gameplay. The guards can see further (though their scope is narrow), the level designs are great puzzles, the objectives are varied and the skills are awesome. Even the hacking mini-games are fun in this. Love the shooting mechanics as well from a stealth perspective. Having to get close and line up a shot makes it tougher and more fun than MGS/SC because you can't just tranq some guy from before he can even see you. You actually have to get close up where it's dangerous and sneak around him or finding a hiding spot close by and snipe him off.
Quote:It is better as an RPG and storyline wise, basically because there's a massive amount of choice in how things play out.
Quote:If you play this by trying to avoid combat, then you'll get the most out of it since it utterly sucks as a shooter. It's becoming one of my favourite games in years. There's a mission where it's just talking, and it's one of the best missions I've played in the game so far. Everything just flows almost seamlessly and never feels like say.. Dragon Age.
Quote:I'm glad I kept my order because I'm enjoying this game a lot.
I'm playing total stealth and nonlethal, as in, I haven't fired a gun since the tutorial. The action is hilariously jank fun if you play it as a stealth game. It's on par if not worse than a lot of old PS2 stealth games; I don't mean MGS2 and Splinter Cell, like someone mentioned above, it's more like the ones that came from Japan to cash in on the craze. At the start, stealth was walk up to enemy, hit button, they go down. Now I'm going invisible, I can run and they don't hear a thing, and I have a gadget that creates a sound anywhere I point it, so I can just aim at a far wall and take out an entire room in seconds. This isn't hyperbole. At one point I wanted to open fraps and take a video of how bad the AI was, but it actually helps make stealth more enjoyable, at least. The tiny bit of shooting I tried in the usual bad RPG shooter stuff where you point, aim, and end up shooting eight feet to the left.
That's all the action stuff. The conversation system and how you affect the story is what I'm really liking. The conversation system is better than most games, I think. I can see people not liking how everything is on a timer, but it's never two dudes standing around not saying a word or repeating dialog. I won't do a good job explaining, so I won't too much, but I will say that it does a very good job at making you feel like what you matters. Even the fact that I'm playing stealth and not getting detected, or the orders I do mission despite them being non-linear, and other seemingly minor things impacts conversations.
and yeah, the game is pretty funny.
Quote:Having good times.
My character is full on Bourne, so it's stealth and martial arts. The perks are cool to use in combat, at least in the sense that they help making the combat a bit more....or a bit less shitty.
I've met some characters now where the dialog with them has been interesting. Not much aside from that has changed from my last impressions, i'm guessing that having -100 hype for the game has helped so far, and i'm enjoying it.
So, basically, if you want a deep RPG and don't mind some jank, get Alpha Protocol NOW.
It's really too bad that the second half of his career was so injury-damaged, he was so, so amazing for a long time that while he was great, he'd have been even greater had he avoided injury. However, even without that, he is #5 in the all-time home runs list, and one of the few superstars from the steroid era who appears to have been really been clean - a worthy achievement to be sure. It is to bad that it had to end early like this though, early in the season and when he is only 40... I know, he wasn't playing much this year or doing well this year yet, but still, it's too bad. Still, his overall career was outstanding, and he certainly was one of the great baseball players of all time.
![[Image: t1larg.jpg]](http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/europe/06/07/england.roman.cemetery/t1larg.jpg)
Now that's pretty funny stuff. :)
