Penis-Shaped Bone & Lover's Bust Among Trove of Roman Art

LiveScience ^ | Thursday, October 25, 2012 | Owen Jarus

[SunkenCiv]

Amateurs using metal detectors have discovered a trove of Roman artifacts, including a bust possibly depicting a male lover of a Roman emperor, a silver and gold brooch of a leaping dolphin and a penis-shaped animal bone.

The wide array of art, found across Britain, dates back about 1,600 to 2,000 years, when the Romans ruled the island.

This art is among almost 25,000 Roman artifacts (the bulk of them coins) reported in England and Wales in 2011. They were documented as part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and published recently in the journal Britannia.

In the journal article, Sally Worrell, a prehistoric and Roman finds adviser with PAS, and John Pearce, a lecturer in archaeology at King's College London, analyze a small selection of the Roman artifacts.

In England and Wales, amateurs are allowed to use metal detectors to uncover artifacts and, depending on the nature of their finds, potentially own them. The practice is controversial, with professional archaeologists concerned about the disturbance of potential sites and the loss of provenance information. PAS, a government-backed program, records the findings in an online public database. Some information, such as the precise details of find spots, is restricted to protect potential archaeological sites.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks NB for the kind remarks!