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The Fist-and-Phallus Pendants from Roman Catterick

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2015

Adam Parker
Adam Parker*
Affiliation:
Yorkshire Museumadam.parker@ymt.org.uk
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Abstract

A collection of six fist-and-phallus amulets from excavations at Catterick, North Yorks., is here reconsidered alongside their unique context. The group consists of five amulets from a single infant inhumation and a sixth found separate from the rest. All exhibit features defining them as a clear group of objects; they are all curved with a phallus and a fist making the manus fica joined in the centre by a scallop shell. There are three left-handed and three right-handed fists. The traditional interpretation of fist-and-phallus type amulets relates to military ideas of strength and virility, but in the context provided by this small group it is clear that their apotropaic function should be given additional credence. No other context in Roman Britain directly associates the fist-and-phallus type and infant inhumation.

Keywords

amuletfist-and-phallusscallop shellinfant burialCatterickYorkshirependant
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 46 , November 2015 , pp. 135 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

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