It was initially thought to be a darning tool. But now experts think this wooden object discovered at a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall could actually be a 2nd Century sex toy.
The object, which was discovered in a ditch at Vindolanda, in Hexham, was found in 1992 alongside dozens of shoes and dress accessories, as well as other small tools and craft waste products such as leather off-cuts and worked antler.
But new analysis by experts at Newcastle University and University College Dublin has shown it to be the first known example of a wooden phallus recovered anywhere in the Roman world.
