Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service, Faye Minter, 2007-01-15 11:37:51
Title
Roman phallic pendant
Description
English: A complete cast copper-alloy Roman phallic pendant, phallic objects, the majority of which are pendants and have been discussed by Jude Plouviez in her recent article; 'Whose good luck? Roman phallic ornaments from Suffolk' 2005 157-164). These phallic pendants were possibly associated with Roman soldiers, either serving or retired, and presumably served as good luck charms to protect the wearer from harm. They are also definately Roman rather than indigineous in character and many have been found on sites with an early Roman, often military, presence. This example, in keeping with most of the other examples, is a single phallus with little elaboration. The phallus is straight and slopes downwards. It measures 32.70mm in total length and 6.74mm in width. Beneath the base of the phallus there are two testicles which are rounded and projecting downwards. They are 14.93mm in width. Projecting from between the testicles on the same orientation as the phallus there is an integral suspension loop, which is sloping backwards, measuring 8.30mm in height and 8.56mm in width externally, it is 4.64mm in internal diameter, the loop has a D-shaped cross-section. This phallic pendant is very similar to four others thought to be from the same parish, see SF-75EC55, SF-660C05, SF-75CF48 and SF-75B574.
Depicted place
(County of findspot) Suffolk
Date
between 43 and 410
Accession number
FindID: 156232 Old ref: SF-760A21 Filename: SF-760A21.JPG
Credit line
The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme started in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales. Finds are published at https://finds.org.uk
Attribution: The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum
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