Unveiling the Puzzling Red-Hued Canine Bone Discovery in Ancient Rome's Ruins
Delving into the depths of an ancient Roman quarry shaft in Surrey, England, archaeologists stumbled upon an intriguing find - a hand-painted dog penis bone, dating back over two millennia. Bioarchaeologist Ellen Green from the University of Reading brought this peculiar artifact to light, which she uncovered amidst a trove of first-century BCE remains in the shaft.
Publishing her findings on December 25, 2019, in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Green described the bone's unique feature: a bright red hue, likely derived from iron oxide. Although she couldn't pinpoint the exact method of application, she pondered that the artist might have stained the bone directly or kept it in a dyed cloth before discarding it into the shaft.
The bone, measuring 13.1 feet deep, was found in a former quarry site called Nescot, situated nearby Ewell. Among the hundreds of human and animal skeletal remains, dog remains made up nearly 200, making this red-painted canine accessory a veritable rarity.
The exact purpose of this ritualistic object remains a mystery, although the presence of such a large number of young animals and animal births in the later spring and summer seasons points to a connection between the shaft's usage and agricultural fertility, according to Green. The phallic symbol of the bone would've likely been associated with fertility in Roman culture, supplementing the notion of dogs as protective and healing beings associated with mother goddesses and abundance.
Comparatively, other ancient cultures recognized the significance of phallic symbols in their fertility rituals, deploying bear bacula in sacred drums for the Saami in northern Scandinavia and crafting knife hilts from polished polar bear penis bones among Indigenous Alaskan groups, both serving to embody power, fertility, protection, and even luck.
Enriching the tale, it's worth noting that the Nescot site also played host to intentional breeding and symbolic deposits of young animals, further highlighting the importance of fertility in the culture of Roman Britain. However, looking beyond this specific bone, the wider implications for phallic symbolism and fertility rites observed in various ancient cultures grow even more intriguing.
In the realm of future archaeological studies, this discovery could spark interest in the use of phallic symbols in ancient cultures for fertility rites (science and technology). As technology advances, we may uncover more about the methods used to create these symbols, shedding light on the artistic techniques of ancient civilizations (future).
