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Meaning in Millstones: Phallic Imagery on Romano-British Millstones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2022

Ruth Shaffrey
Ruth Shaffrey*
Affiliation:
Oxford Archaeology ruth.shaffrey@googlemail.com
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Abstract

Phallic imagery occurred throughout the Roman world and is most commonly found on small portable items such as amulets and pendants, and on buildings and structures. This paper details three Romano-British instances of phallic carvings found on millstones and one on a rotary quern. It assesses the style and positioning of the carvings in relation to the functional operation of the stones, reviews their contexts of recovery geographically and chronologically and considers the likely symbolism and meaning of the carvings.

Keywords

Rotary quernmillstoneapotropaismphallicsculpturemilling
Type
Shorter Contributions
Information
Britannia , Volume 53 , November 2022 , pp. 357 - 370
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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