Ancient and Hung — Archaeologists Discover Giant Phallic Sculpture While Excavating Site
They don't get older or bigger than this.
According to the Daily Mail, "archaeologists were taken aback when they discovered an 18-inch (half-metre) phallic carving in an ancient Roman settlement known as El Higuerón." The discovery was made on Friday at the Spanish site which was occupied by the Romans around 200 BC in the settlement known as El Higuerón.
The archoaelogists are excavating a tower-like structure on the site and discovered the carving as one of its cornerstones."Romans believed the symbol was the embodiment of masculine power and brought about protection and good fortune, so depictions have been found throughout Roman culture," writes the Daily Mail.
According to the Spanish news site La Paiz: "Phallic representations and amulets were common in ancient Rome, as they were considered to be good luck symbols and heralds of favorable omens. Pagan religions associated them with natural fecundity, and the phallic symbols represented the fertility god Fascinus, warding off the "evil eye." These phalluses were common in the homes and military camps of the time, but the size of the recently discovered phallus was not at all common."
Andrés Roldán, a researcher at the University of Extremadura and director of the museum, described it as 'unusually large'.
He told El País: 'It was common to put them on the facades of houses, and soldiers carried small phallic amulets as symbols of virility.
'We are currently researching whether one of similar dimensions has been previously found.'