Ancient Stone Phallus Discovered – And It’s a Whopper

Archeologists working at an excavation in Spain uncovered a 2,300-year-old stone phallus last month. The bas-relief representation of a male member was discovered on the cornerstone of a large Roman building under excavation in El Higuerón by a team from the University of Extremadura and the Historical Museum of Nueva Carteya. The stone penis measures over 18 inches in length and is estimated to date back to the 3rd century BCE when the area was under Roman occupation. Phallic symbols were not uncommon during the period, but experts were impressed with the size of this particular rock-hard penis.

“It was common to put them on the facades of houses, and soldiers carried small phallic amulets as symbols of virility. But this one is unusually large,” Andrés Roldán, University of Extremadura and director of the Historical Museum of Nueva Carteya, told El País. “We are currently researching whether one of similar dimensions has been previously found.”

While the discovery of the phallus garnered headlines, the “monumental Roman building” upon which it was carved was the actual focus of the excavation. The ancient structure was a tower-shaped building measuring roughly 65 feet in length and 55 feet in width, with walls six feet thick. The tower structure itself was built upon the razed buildings of an older Iberian settlement dating back to the 5th century BCE.

“They razed the settlement and used the ancient Iberian fortifications as foundations [for the new buildings],” Roldán said.

The building and settlement were abandoned by the Romans in the 1st century. It was later occupied by Moorish and Christian groups.

The entire archeological site was recently purchased by the local Nueva Carteya municipality with the intent of preserving the site for future study, as well as creating a museum to display the artifacts found on the site.