Dates: Thursday 24 April 2025–Friday 20 June 2025, 10:00 am-4:00 pm
Venue: DIG

24 April – 20 June 2025 | 10am – 4pm | DIG | Included in admission price | Book now

Step into the world of ancient gladiators and uncover a truly unique encounter at DIG! While gladiators battling lions and bears have long captured the imagination, evidence of these fierce encounters has been limited to historical texts and artistic depictions—until now.

This spring, DIG is proud to present an extraordinary display: skeletal remains believed to bear genuine lion bite marks. Alongside this discovery, witness a stunning facial reconstruction that brings history vividly to life.

Join our Dig Deeper tours—an exclusive, adult-focused experience held at the end of each day. These tours spotlight the gladiator remains and other fascinating artifacts from our collection. Learn from real archaeologists, ask your burning questions about life on a dig, and handle replica artifacts. You’ll also gain hands-on experience in our interactive dig pits, discovering what it’s like to uncover the past.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to come face-to-face with history. Book your visit today!

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Date: Thursday 24 April 2025, 2:00 pm-3:00 pm
Venue: York Art Gallery

Gallery talk: The Art of Letters by Professor Helen Smith
Thursday 24 April 2025 | 2pm
Included in gallery admission

Harland Miller is fascinated by letters, from the exquisite initials of medieval scribes to the distinctive typography of Penguin Books. In this talk, Professor Helen Smith of the University of York, will explore our collective fascination with the beauty and variety of letters, taking in everything from quirky illuminated initials to missing letters, early typographic design, and those iconic Penguin covers. Helen will explore the work of artists, including Miller, who take letters as their subject, uncovering the visual allure of letterforms and the urge to play with shape and meaning.

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