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The body in antiquity

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This is a colour photograph of a metal object seen against a blue-grey background. It resembles a winged creature. The head is aligned centrally and is topped by a circular disc of the same size. Eyes, mouth, nose and hair are indicated. The shoulders and two short limbs project straight downwards from the neck which is shown as a collar of short lines. The limbs are joined at the end by a bar. The area between the limbs and the bar forms a semi-circular opening. The creature’s wings are formed of a phallus which curves downwards from left to right. The left-hand part of the shaft where the arc begins is thicker and terminates in a straight edge. This side is decorated with a narrow column with three curved lines splaying out from it on either side. The arc of the right-hand part of the shaft is more slender and curves down to the rounded end of the glans penis. It is decorated towards the tip with a diagonal ladder design rising from left to right.

 3 ‘Cultural scripts’