Long before there was a squared circle, there was apparently a stone box in southwest Turkey, and archaeologists think whoever was buried in it might have been one of the very first professional wrestlers on record.
What Was Found
Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the discovery of a cist tomb, essentially a stone box-style sarcophagus, at the ancient city of Aspendos, uncovered in a section of the site called the East Necropolis, an area of the city that had never been identified before. Inside were a human skeleton and several silver coins stamped with images of wrestlers grappling. The tomb dates to somewhere between the last quarter of the fifth century B.C. and the fourth century B.C., putting it at roughly 2,400 years old.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced the find directly:
“We have made a very important discovery during the excavations we are carrying out at the ancient city of Aspendos, shedding light on the city’s history in the classical period. We have uncovered a cist tomb dating to between the last quarter of the fifth century B.C. and the fourth century B.C. in the East Necropolis, whose existence has been identified for the first time within the city.”
He added that the Aspendos coins found alongside the body, plus other grave goods, “indicate that the person buried there was involved in sports and may even have been a wrestler from Aspendos.”
Why Coins Are the Big Clue
Aspendos was a real place, not a myth. Founded by Greek colonists in the fifth century B.C. and located about 10 miles inland from the Mediterranean, it grew into a trading hub for salt, olive oil, wood, and horses. It also had a serious sports culture: a large Greek gymnasium and, later, a stadium built in the second century A.D. that could hold roughly 8,000 spectators for footraces, javelin, and wrestling.
The city minted its own silver coins, called staters, featuring two nude wrestlers locked up mid-match, and kept producing them for more than a century. Archaeologist Oğuz Tekin of Koç University has pointed to that as evidence wrestling held real civic importance in Aspendos, not just as entertainment, but as something the city put on its money.
Don’t Book the Hall of Fame Ceremony Yet
Not everyone is ready to call this confirmed. Sarah E. Bond, a historian at the University of Iowa who wasn’t part of the dig, cautioned that the coins by themselves aren’t proof. “Coins alone cannot indicate this was a Classical era Greek wrestler,” she told Live Science, pointing out that Aspendos staters were common currency used by the entire population, not just athletes. Her suggestion for stronger evidence: a closer look at the skeleton itself. Injuries commonly tied to contact sports, like a broken and healed nose, would make a much stronger case than the coins alone.
Wrestling’s Very Old Family Tree
Whether or not this particular skeleton turns out to be Aspendos’ answer to a 5th-century-B.C. CM Punk, the find is a fun reminder that wrestling’s roots go back further than any promotion currently on television. Greco-Roman wrestling was part of the ancient Olympics, cities put wrestlers on their currency the way modern promotions put champions on merchandise, and stadiums were being built specifically to host it centuries before anyone had heard of a steel cage or a WWE Championship. The investigation is ongoing, and Ersoy’s team says more finds from the site are expected as the excavation continues.
