This Roman bowl bears 4 double-ended phalluses, each facing a disembodied vulva. There's even a phallic creature on the bottom too...
BEAT THAT💥
The quirky scene on the base shows a figure riding a lion-like beast which has three phalluses, including one for a head and a tail! Although you’d be forgiven for thinking we were making this stuff up...
Whilst the artist gets full marks for imagination, the image is really low quality and might be a poorly cast copy of a scene from elsewhere in the Roman World. In fact the bowl is so wacky that our best guess is that it’s a Roman bowl with later additions to make it extra #saucy
Rather than seeing it as saucy, Romans saw the phallus as a symbol of protection that deflected bad luck & the gaze of the evil eye. Phalluses can be found on many objects and buildings in the Roman world - like this carving, probably built into the wall of York’s Roman fortress
Lady parts aren't as common, but are sometimes represented as a fist making a cheeky gesture (manus fica) like on this pendant!
The mid-pint in between the fist-and-phallus decoration is highlighted by a groove & 2 raised strips - possibly a vulva #SauciestObject#CuratorBattle
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Regarding the negative comments about this blog on Facebook:
Let’s be clear, Roman Britain & Roman York, were diverse places with people from all over the empire mixing together. ‘Romans’ were not all white, male soldiers.
Anyone who suggests otherwise is factually incorrect.
The interpretation of ‘Ivory Bangle Lady’ – as is detailed in our blog – is underpinned by brilliant, inter-disciplinary research by the University of Reading published in 2010. The ancestry assessment made suggests a mixture of ‘black’ and ‘white’ ancestral traits, and (2/6)
the isotope signature indicates that she may have come from somewhere slightly warmer than the UK. Taken together with the evidence of an unusual burial rite & grave goods, the evidence points to the fact she was a high-status young woman who was of North African descent. (3/6)