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Description: | DescriptionA Roman copper-alloy phallic pendant. The pendant is in the form of an abstract, erect penis. It is circular in section, and crescent-shaped in profile. A loop extends above from the centre of the shaft. At one end are two globular knops representing the testicles, each one projecting from the side of the terminal. At the other end the penis is shown with the foreskin drawn back; the underside has a V-shaped profile. Running along the centre of the underside is a moulded, notched rib with an incised line to either side.The notched underside can be paralleled with SUR-AF2387 from Wargrave, Wokingham.DiscussionThe phallus was a powerful symbol of protection in the Roman Empire (Parker 2015). It was thought to avert the evil eye, and accordingly was popular with Roman soldiers. Nicolay (2007) cites examples similar to the present example which were used as horse harness pendants, and thus as protective amulets for the cavalry (Nicolay 2007: 152, Pl. 91). While Phallic pendants have traditionally been associated with the Roman Army, they were also worn around the neck by adults, and espeically children. Indeed, a growing corpus of phallic pendants are known from rural sites in England (Plouviez 2005). Their presence on rural sites need not draw direct associations with the army, as Nicolay's work has shown, but rather may indicate a range of primary and secondary uses of such amulets (Nicolay 2007). The parallels cited in Nicolay (2007) indiate a date of c.120-300.ReferencesNicolay, J. (2007) Armed Batavians: Use and Significance of Weaponry and Horse Gear from Non-Military Contexts in the Rhine Delta (50 BC to AD 450). Amsterdam University Press: AmsterdamParker, A. (2015) 'The Fist-and-Phallus pendants from Roman Catterick', Britannia 46, 135-149Plouviez, J. (2005) 'Whose good luck? Roman phallic ornaments from Suffolk', in N. Crummy (ed.) Image, Craft and the Classical World. Essays in honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns, pp.157-64
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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