Londons Globe Theatre, first built in 1599, served as the Elizabethan eras artistic and cultural hub. But for every play written by William Shakespeare for the stage, the citys surrounding Bankside region often hosted grislier events known as animal-baiting matches. Although banned today, the blood sport that pit dogs against other speciesmost notably bearsremained an immensely popular form of entertainment for over a century.Contextualizing the practice can help historians better understand important facets of British life during Shakespeares time. But bears werent only used for baiting, so its not as simple as looking for skeletal remains underneath the city. Researchers recently analyzed nine Elizabethan era archeological sites across Londons Bankside entertainment district to document a new way to locate, study, and identify bear-baiting evidence.Their new interdisciplinary model is detailed in the journal Antiquity. Researchers undertook the work as part of an ongoing, government-funded project called Box Office Bears: Animal Baiting in Early Modern England. Relying on historical archives, stable isotopic analysis of bones, and other zooarcheological evidence, the team could confidently determine where and when handlers housed bears for baiting near so-called bear gardens.Its a hugely unpleasant topic, but understanding baiting is critical to understanding performance in Shakespeares England, Hannah ORegan, a study co-author and professor of archeology and paleoecology at the University of Nottingham, said in a statement on February 17.Unlike at dramatic playhouses such as the Globe, bear gardens also featured archeological assemblages dominated by dog and [horse] remains. The dogs typically ranged between 2-3 years in age, and generally fell within a limited size range. That said, they were much larger than the eras hunting dogs, and stood as high as 31.5 inches at the shouldercomparable to a modern Great Dane.This size of dog was uncommon across England at the time, suggesting these big dogs known as mastiffs were particularly used for baiting, added Lizzie Wright, a study co-author and a professor in the University of Yorks archeology department. Get the Popular Science newsletter By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.These dogs often displayed signs of survivable trauma, including fractures to the cranium and ribs. The horses, meanwhile, were generally older animals whose gnawed bones indicated they were used as food for both the dogs and bears.As for the bears, age also served as a telltale sign for their use. None of the bears surveyed by researchers were under four years old. But since the animals were generally captured while cubs, that left a lot of time before they began fighting.According to researchers, it likely came down to money. Despite the deadly baiting matches, bears werent necessarily expendablehandlers paid large sums to import the animals from overseas, and trained them for multiple entertainment roles throughout their lives. Its possible that during the first few years of their lives, these bears were used in plays or in popular dancing performances.The ethical and artistic implications of a Shakespearean stage play versus a bear-baiting match may seem stark today, but ORegan cautioned that Elizabethan audiences saw little distinction at the time.The people who went to watch King Lear and Hamlet, would also have popped into the arenas to see a baiting, she said. They saw no difference between the practices, and indeed baiting terminology, and even the bears themselves are threaded throughout early modern plays.Whats more, social stigma against animal fighting events didnt develop until comparatively recently. Although Londons formal arena baiting matches mainly took place between 1540-1682, the practice was not officially banned in England until 1835.