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At least 75 were adult male skeletons, all under the age of 45, around an inch taller than the Roman average and well built. This demographic alone is unusual for a Roman cemetery of the era. But the manner in which the remains were buried was oddest of all. The heads had been removed, placed in the graves on the chests or between the legs of the bodies.

Forensic work conducted on the bones revealed one man had been bitten by a large carnivore, such as a lion or bear, which were fought by gladiators in the arena. Another skeleton showed signs of a massive hammer blow to the head, a method of mercy killing delivered to badly wounded fighters.

The bones also showed that the men had much stronger right arms than left, which was normal for slaves trained to fight in the arena from childhood. In addition, the bones showed evidence of childhood stress and deprivation, which would be expected for gladiatorial slaves, and healed wounds that suggested lives well used to injury and fighting.