Bronze-age phallus, Rollsbo, Kungälv, Sweden3D Model
A nearly two-feet tall (52 cm) stone phallus was discovered during an archaeological excavation in Rollsbo close to Kungälv, outside of Gothenburg. The stone was hidden under a stone-setting that was originally interpreted by the archaeologists as a Bronze Age grave. During the excavation several patches of soot were uncovered surrounding the stone, which had originally stood erect in the very centre of the monument. Burnt animal bone was discovered in the soot. Archaeobotanical analyses of the soil from the patches of soot revealed that it contained burnt cereals. This has been interpreted as a grain offering, perhaps together with the erection of the stone, as a sacrificial fertility ritual. A hammer stone was also found near the phallus. The stone-setting turned out not to be a grave, but a monument built around a phallus. Carbon dating of the cereals, charcoal and burnt bone shows that the phallus was erected and in use during the Swedish Bronze Age, between 1260–675 BC. Scanned by John Evan Skole.
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