The Vindolanda Trust
An object found in the U.K. 30 years ago might be the only surviving dildo dating from Roman times, archeologists say.
The 6.2-inch wooden phallus was discovered in 1992 after spending almost 2,000 years buried at the site of the Roman fort of Vindolanda near Hadrian’s Wall, the ancient barrier which once demarcated the northern border of the Roman Empire’s northwest frontier, in northern England. Originally, the artifact was recorded as a darning tool—but now experts have re-evaluated the device as likely having a racier purpose.
“This is the first known carved wooden phallus of this size, not only from Roman Britain, but the entire Roman world, as far as we are aware,” Dr Rob Collins, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at Newcastle University in northeast England, told The Telegraph. “If the phallus is a sex object, then it would also be the first known sex object from the Roman Empire.