A dog penis bone painted red it was found in a French quarry about 2000 years ago: the discovery was the work of the archaeologist Ellen Green of theUniversity of Reading (United Kingdom), is now the subject of studies. In fact, it is thought that the object may have had a role in a sort of ritual perhaps linked to fertility, before being thrown into the quarry well or during his burial. But scientists will continue investigations to ascertain its origin.
In 2015, a group of archaeologists excavating at a site called Nescotlocated near the modern city of Ewellhad come across a 4 meter deep shaft that had been dug into the rock and subsequent work revealed that this had been used as a sort of tomb, containing hundreds of human and animal bones.
While the idea that ritual wells are associated with fertility is not new – the author writes – this study is one of the first to draw from multiple strands of evidence to support the idearather than relying on individual inclusions or outdated stereotypes of “Celtic” ritual
In the well, used as a burial site for around 50 years, the remains of more than 280 domestic animals were found, 70% of which were dogs, and none show signs of being slaughtered, diseased or burned, suggesting they were pets. or from work dead and buried. But only one of the canine penises had been painted, which made it easy to spot.
At the moment it is impossible to say with certainty how or why the bone was painted and ended up in the shaft, but this is certainly a truly one-of-a-kind find. Which could open the doors to one new page of Roman history.
The work was published on Oxford Journal of Archaeology.
Sources: Phys.org / Oxford Journal of Archaeology
