Winged Penis from Ancient Rome!

Amateur archaeologists have been using metal detectors to uncover a trove of ancient Roman artifacts in Britain. Among the centuries-old goodies discovered in 2011 were a pornographic knife handle and a couple of winged penises. Their purpose? To protect the possessor from evil, especially evil wielding a penis of its own. Images below might be NSFW, depending on whether your work considers Roman genitalia classy or not.

Sally Worrell, a National Finds Adviser for the controversial Portable Antiquities Scheme, which allows amateur treasure hunters in England and Wales to seek out and sometimes claim ownership of ancient artifacts, published a report on the nearly 25,000 items discovered through the program in 2011 in the journal Britannia. 

The winged penises came as little surprise to the ancient artifacts researchers. The fascinus is the divine embodiment of the phallus, and is a common motif in Roman art. According to the British Museum (if you're concerned about NSFW images, that link has a particularly masturbatory fascinus), these images are associated with the god Priapus, who was often depicted with an absurdly erect penis, and were often found on the walls of buildings and at street corners. Wikipedia cites Martin Henig's Religion in Roman Britain, which adds that thefascinus was used particularly to ward off evil from children (especially male children) and conquering generals. Oh, and ready your puns: the winged penis was carved, quite appropriately, from bone.

From: http://io9.com/5955398/ancient-romans-carved-winged-penises-to-ward-off-the-evil-eye