Archaeologists believe they have uncovered the first full-size Roman dildo. The 2,000-year-old six-inch piece of wood was recovered initially as a "darning tool" in 1992 in a ditch at the Roman Fort of Vindolanda, near Hadrian's Wall in northern England, according to the study published in the journal Antiquity.
"I have to confess, part of me thinks it's kind of self-evident that it is a penis," Dr. Rob Collins, an archaeologist at Newcastle University who co-authored the paper, told the Guardian. He said, "We know ancient Romans and Greeks used sexual implements. This object from Vindolanda could be an example of one."
Researchers initially unearthed the object as being a darning tool. This misidentification resulted from the tool being found alongside other tools, craft waste products, and dozens of shoes and dress accessories.
However, researchers have reinterpreted the six-inch piece of wood, smoothed at both ends, as a wooden phallus from the Roman era.
"What makes this a first is that it is not a small, miniature phallus," Collins said, adding, "It's lifesize. It's also important because wood just doesn't normally survive … we couldn't find any parallels."
Collins told CNN:
"It very well could be a sex object and, if it is, it is the first example from the Roman world.
"We shouldn't be surprised by this. We know from Roman art and Roman literature that they used dildos, that they existed. But we haven't found any examples archaeologically yet."
Researchers concluded in the study that no specific use of the wooden phallus could be determined: "We hope to have prompted the search for similar objects elsewhere and encouraged their meaningful incorporation into narratives of the past."
