By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter

A sculpted and polished phallus found in a German cave is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered, researchers say.

The 20cm-long, 3cm-wide stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in the famous Hohle Fels Cave near Ulm in the Swabian Jura. The prehistoric "tool" was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone. Its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its Ice Age makers, scientists report.

"In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints," explained Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, at Tübingen University.

"There are some areas where it has some very typical scars from that," he told the BBC News website.

Researchers believe the object's distinctive form and etched rings around one end mean there can be little doubt as to its symbolic nature.

"It's highly polished; it's clearly recognisable," said Professor Conard.

The Tübingen team working Hohle Fels already had 13 fractured parts of the phallus in storage, but it was only with the discovery of a 14th fragment last year that the team was able finally to put the "jigsaw" together. The different stone sections were all recovered from a well-dated ash layer in the cave complex associated with the activities of modern humans (not their pre-historic "cousins", the Neanderthals). The dig site is one of the most remarkable in central Europe. Hohle Fels stands more than 500m above sea level in the Ach River Valley and has produced thousands of Upper Palaeolithic items.



More from BBC News, 25 July 2005

 

One of the first dildoes!

 

How do they know it wasn't just a dough pin? Or a spice grinder? Dirty Ph.D. minds.

 

 

if it had a huge nutsac attached, i would have an easier time believing it.

 

The circular scribing on both sides of the base of the "dough pin" for one...... and in fact, it could be a spice grinder, if Neolithic guys were not great lovers.....

 

Did ya read the article? It said the shape and circular markings on one end make it clearly recognizable, and if you look at it, it clearly is...

 

hmm...not really.

 

^^^ Couldn't take his eyes off the picture.

 

Maybe it has an.. umm certain odor.....

 

Cromagpoon.

 

Did you take women's history? Well, I actually did and believe me, they can take ANYTHING and turn it into a phallic symbol. In fact anyone can turn anything into whatever they want if they try hard enough. Look at the Bible and the Koran. People blow things up and kill people in following the those books.

 

I actually did not take women's history... but that thing up there looks like a schlong to me. I'm not saying it's a phallic SYMBOL, I'm saying it's a dildo.

 

 

Sorry, but neither the Bible or the Koran look like schlongs to me.

 

I did know this girl in school, however, who could probably have fit one of those soft cover bibles in there. The old testament, anyway.

 

Perhaps there were some strands of hair that came along with it

 

Hold and look along the spine of the book. anyone who can get it inside gets free dinner voucher at Morton's from me.

 

You know what, I have more to say on this... why are you spouting women's history knowledge to me when you don't even have the facts straight? Phallic SYMBOLS are things like the Washington Monument; symbols of power which also happen to be large and cylindrical. Objects actually shaped and designed like penises are, well, models of penises.

 

"In addition to being a symbolic representation of male genitalia, it was also at times used for knapping flints,"

So it was a tool that just happens to look like that...Like "it was clearly a phallus, which was occassionaly used to hit baseballs"

 

 

 

<---- has somewhat dry consulting well today.

 

Yeah... good point. It's possible that the ring around the top was created by the flint knapping (whatever that means), in which case it's just an unfortunate circumstance that it looks like a cack.

 

 

Who is that?

 

Johnny Damon.

 

Jesus

 

Phallus is as you say a symbol of a penis. Last time I checked, a oblong cylindical rock isn't a penis. In fact it was a tool. Just because you want to use it for one doesn't make it a penis. And for the record, neither are bananas, zuccinis, cucumbers, or pencils penises or phalluses. They are victims of the malicious intent of women.

 

:checkspants:

 

I said things shaped and designed (by humans, not by God) to look like penises are MODELS of penises, not ACTUAL penises. Let's have some fun with vocabulary, shall we?


Phallus = penis. It's latin, check it out sometime.

Phallic symbol = something vaguely resembling a penis that represents power, subconsciously indicating that only males can represent or hold power

Banana, zucchini, cucumber = Foods, aka things to use when masturbating (note that I did not include pencil in this description)

Dildo, rocks shaped and (possibly) carved to strongly resemble penis = things to use when masturbating

Masturbation = malicious intent of women?

 

I agree with Caliadria. I know some women who surely have some rock chips and sand in their vagina. Now I know why.

 

Thank you.

 

@Picture.

 

 

I'm thinking there has to be a Joan Collins joke somewhere in all this.

 

Hohle Fels Cave = Joan Collins' cooter.

 

looks like an african import

 

Coincidence of coincidences! They just found something (kind of) similar in a cave in asia!!! Pic below!

 

:lol: If I had Photoshop skills, I'd make one that's flaccid and a pill of Viagra next to it for the one they found in Massachusetts...