Red-stained dog penis found in Roman quarry

A unique red dog baculum was discovered in Romano-British ceremonial shaft deposits at a quarry in Ewell, Surrey, southeast England.

There are no other published examples of ocher bones from Roman or Iron Age Britain, and given the context in which it was found, it seems likely that this bone represents some sort of ritual object. The baculum has obvious meaning, especially given that there was already a strong association between dogs and fertility in Roman Britain.

Throughout the Roman occupation of Britain, deep pits or wells would be backfilled with various materials—mainly pottery, coins, and a mixture of human and animal bones—suggesting a votive or religious practice. Shaft deposits have been found across the country, and while their exact purpose is unknown, scholars speculate that they served as passages to the underworld. This interpretation is supported by the presence of dog and corvid bones, as these were animals linked to the gods of the underworld.

But most of them were excavated by amateurs before the advent of modern archaeological procedures and techniques, so the assemblages were not thoroughly documented, the stratigraphy was not documented, and objects like bones were considered insignificant. The few fossils recently unearthed lack the funds to fully analyze the assemblages.

The Roman-era chalk and flint quarry shafts at the Ewell Nescott site were excavated ahead of development in 2015. The site was actively mined from the time after the Conquest (AD 43) until the beginning of the 5th century. Quarry 1 proved to contain one of the largest assemblages of human and animal remains found in a single landscape in Roman Britain. Because it had never been explored before, archaeologists were able to use modern technology to explore it and document the deposit in unprecedented detail.

The shaft was used in three phases from the late 1st century to the early 2nd century, lasting about 50 years. Archaeologists believe the first two phases were ritual deposits, as evidenced by the inclusion of pottery shards only at the bottom of the vessels. This suggests that the pottery was deliberately broken and select pieces placed into the pit. In contrast, during the third phase, the pit appeared to be used as a garbage dump.

The bones of at least 282 domestic animals, including dogs, pigs, cattle, horses, sheep/goats, were found in Quarry 1, 70.1% of which were dogs. Most of the dog bones from Phases 1 and 2 are from small breeds, with an average height of less than 14 inches at the shoulder, indicating that they were pets or terriers rather than livestock guardians or herding dogs. We know these animal remains are domestic animals because the bones show no cut marks from butchery, no carbonization from burning, and no signs of disease. These are pets or working animals that died and were buried in the quarry.

The dog’s baculum (baculum) was found in the Phase II deposits. It is one of the larger rods in Quarry 1, but it is the only one dyed reddish-brown. Color analysis showed it was an iron oxide pigment, possibly red ocher. No ocher or iron that might have stained the bones was found in the pit, and no other bones of any species, human or animal, found in the pit were stained. This suggests that the baculum was stained before it was thrown into the pit.

Researchers suspect the baculum was used in rituals or as a talisman, as the penis played an important role in Roman society as a symbol of fertility and protection from the evil eye. The presence of large numbers of fetuses and newborn puppies, foals, piglets, and lambs/lambs in the first stage also links the axis to fertility rituals.

The research has been published in Oxford Journal of Archeology You can read the full article here.