A metal detector enthusiast in Kent, England, struck gold when she stumbled upon a copper pendant that has been declared a national treasure.
The copper pendant was discovered by Wendy Thompson, an amateur “treasure hunter,” while she was metal detecting on a farm in Higham, Kent. It is intricately crafted in the shape of a phallus.
According to Ancient Origins, Thompson immediately recognized the potential value of the pendant, which is estimated to be around 2,000 years old, and promptly contacted the British Museum.
The British Museum describes the pendant as being 3 cm long and weighing 9.7 g, with a highly detailed representation of a body part. It has just been added to the national treasure list after 18 months since its discovery.
According to the examination results, the pendant dates back to between 43 and 410 AD, during the period when England was under Roman occupation. This artifact is a relic from the Roman era.
In Greco-Roman culture, the phallic symbol represents the power of reproduction, fertility, and dominance. For an empire focused on territorial expansion, the symbol of sexuality also connotes the oppression of weaker subjects—women, girls, boys, and male slaves—by the men of the empire.
This symbol—commonly referred to as a “phallic symbol”—was so prevalent that it was associated with the worship of male deities like Dionysus and Hephaestus. It was also seen as a type of talisman for good luck, driving away evil spirits, and was commonly found in mosaics and tiles throughout the ruins of the empire.
However, due to the passage of time and the numerous political and social upheavals that occurred in England during that era, relatively few phallic artifacts have been unearthed, with only 451 Roman-era examples found in England. An artifact as well-preserved as the “national treasure” found by Thompson is especially valuable.
