votive.offering

Clay model of penis.

Thomson, Alexander

Roman

clay fired.clay

Thomson, Alexander

The photograph shows two fired clay votive offerings, this one being the model of a penis. They date from the Roman period, probably 2nd century BC to 1st century AD, and were collected by Alexander Thomson as part of a collection of pagan and Christian, 'popish' votive offerings which he made in 1863 while in Rome. Similar pre-Christian, clay votive offerings of other parts of the body, such as one of the eye, which is is Thomson's collection, were also made. The 'popish' votive offerings also show parts of the body, and are made in pressed metal. As a Protestant and a participant in the Disruption, Thomson was anxious, in his display in Banchory House Museum, to show the two types of offering together, to illustrate the similarities in thought and belief between those of the pre-Christian pagans and those of the Roman Catholics. Flat bronze axes are the earliest forms of metal axe, and date from the early Bronze Age, about 1800-1100BC. They were made by casting into a single stone mould. The size varies and the shape changes through time, from thick-butted to thin-butted, probably as better methods of hafting were developed. This axe is probably made of a copper alloy. It has a thin, square butt, nearly parallel sides and a slightly recurved blade. It is cast and beaten. This is one of the earliest metal items from NE Scotland. Its rectangular shape is typical of the earliest metal axes in Britain, although it is unusual for this type of axe to have a thin butt, so it may be a slightly later type of copper flat axe. It may have been imported from Ireland, providing evidence of a long-term connection between the two areas

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