Former PCA employee Ellen Green has made the press with her PhD research on a bone assemblage found during 2015 excavations at a significant PCA site in Ewell, Surrey. Ellen has identified a remarkable Roman artefact: a 2,000-year-old dog’s penis bone (baculum) painted with red ochre.
Ellen said “This is the only example I could find of an actual penis being potentially used as a ritual object… In Roman culture, the penis had many associations, including being used as a good luck charm and to ward off the evil eye.”
(Photo courtesy of Ellen Green)
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The baculum was found in a 4m-deep quarry shaft, which was part of a broader complex that included evidence of Late Bronze to Early Iron Age settlement and early Roman quarrying activities. Approximately 300 human and animal remains were recovered from the shaft, predominantly small dogs like terriers or corgis. These remains, lacking signs of butchery, burning, or disease, suggest they were part of a ritual deposit; dogs are frequently found in ritualistic locations, often in shafts. Other features at the site included pre-Roman ditches, pits, and shafts, some of which, like the quarry shaft, appear to have served a ritualistic or symbolic function, possibly linked to religious beliefs or fertility practices.
Ellen undertook X-ray fluorescence analysis of the assemblage, which revealed that the baculum was coated in iron oxide, a substance not naturally found on the site. This indicates that the iron oxide was intentionally applied before the bone was placed in the quarry, supporting the theory that the object had symbolic or ritual significance.
.The site’s broader archaeological context—including other ritual deposits, like a neonatal burial and the remains of animals—suggests a link between these practices and Roman beliefs about fertility, abundance, and the agricultural cycle. The feature’s association with chalk quarrying further underscores its importance in the ancient landscape, potentially functioning as a site of veneration or symbolic significance tied to local deities, such as Succellus, a god of protection, and Nantosuelta, a goddess of nature and fertility. Succellus is frequently portrayed as being accompanied by a dog and Nantosuelta by a raven.
This discovery adds a new layer of understanding to the significance of the site, showing how the landscape itself played a central role in the worldview of its ancient inhabitants.
Congratulations Ellen for making the press with this fascinating research!
Click here to read the article in Live Science
The shaft during excavation.
