A 16-centimeter phallic-shaped piece of wood suggests the use of 'sex toys' in Ancient Rome

A phallus-shaped wooden object, initially thought to be a darning tool, may actually be a sex object used by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago, a study published in the academic journal Antiquity suggested this

.

Found in 1992 at the Vindolanda Roman fort in Northumberland, England, the object measures 160 millimeters (16 centimeters) long and is carved from ash wood "with a broad, cylindrical base that has a convex end, a narrower shaft and a tip shaped like a glans”.

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The researchers considered that it is carefully carved and that a single tool and an expert were probably used to shape it.

The analyzes to which the curious object was subjected also revealed that

.

The tool could have had three possible functions, the study specifies: that it was a good luck charm, a pestle to crush, or a sexual object.

The first hypothesis comes from the fact that objects with a similar shape were placed “often near the doors, where passers-by could touch them for protection”, or were inserted into the herms, which were armless busts carved by the

.

“Sometimes the phallus was made separately and inserted into the monolith.

The phalluses mounted on buildings or structures are also known in the Roman world”, the researchers specify. 

The second theory states that it could have been used to "grind or mix materials, while the greater wear on the other end of the phallus may indicate the place where it was attached." 

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The researchers' third hypothesis suggests that the phrase "sex toy" "may be inaccurate or anachronistic depending on the historical context," since its use "may

," the study details.

"

, such as between an enslaved person and his owner, as the recurrence of sexual violence in Roman literature attests," according to the research.

"The size of the phallus and the fact that it was carved from wood raise a number of questions about its use in antiquity," Rob Collins, co-author of the study and professor of archeology at Newcastle University, said in a statement.

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Collins insisted that, although it is not certain what it was used for, it is known that “the ancient Romans and Greeks used sexual utensils.

This Vindolanda object could be an example,” he concluded.

Wooden utensils are common in the ancient world but rarely survive, the research detailed.

The Roman fort of Vindolanda has preserved some 2,000 of them, with dates after the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.

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"The Vindolanda phallus is an extremely rare case of preservation

," added Rob Sands, Professor of Archeology at University College Dublin.

"Climate change and the alteration of the subterranean layers mean that the survival of such objects is increasingly threatened."

Most of the wooden objects from ancient civilizations "probably rotted or burned," according to the study.

"The wooden phallus may be the only one of its kind at this time, but

along the frontier, or indeed in Roman Britain," he said. for her part, Barbara Birley, curator of the Vindolanda Trust.

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The researchers concluded that while the possibility of it being a sexual object is uncomfortable for the modern world, "we

." 

"We hope we have prompted the search for similar objects elsewhere and encouraged their meaningful incorporation into narratives of the past," they added.

Vindolanda Fort was built around AD 85 and is one of the best preserved archaeological sites from the Roman Empire.

The object is on display at the museum that bears the same name.