Decipher the 'vagina' carved into the rock at the Roman fortress

Archaeologists in the UK were surprised to discover a stone carving at a Roman fortress: a crude "gut" with a phrase that experts say has means "bastard" next to someone's name and it appears to have been engraved by a Roman soldier to offend a comrade.

This 40cm wide, 15cm high stone was discovered May 19 at Vindolanda, the ruins of a Roman fortress just south of Hadrian's Wall - a fortified structure that served as the northern border of the Roman Empire, to defend Great Britain against the Picts of Caledonia. Archaeologists believe that this figure was carved into the rock around the third century AD.

The stone has an engraving of "precious penis" and a derogatory word from the Romans 1,700 years ago.

Archaeologist Dylan Herbert, a retired biochemist from Wales, excavated the stone. "From the back it looks like all the other stones, a very ordinary stone, but when I turned it over, I was startled to see some clear letters. After removing all the dirt, the stone was get everyone's attention," said Dylan Herbert.

The stone's most prominent feature is the "gut" drawing, but the researchers were more interested in the writing that accompanies it. Experts have recognized that the phrase "SECUNDINUS CACOR" is an acronym for "Secundinus cacator", which means "Secundinus" (roughly translated as bastard).

"We were really surprised when we deciphered the message carved in the stone," said Andrew Birley, excavation manager and chief executive officer of the Vindolanda Charity Trust.

"Virgin" carvings are not uncommon in the Roman Empire and this newly discovered carving is the 13th "genus" carving discovered at Vindolanda.

In June 2021, a nude knight carving was also discovered at Vindolanda. The "vagina" figure is often carved as a symbol of good luck or fertility.

However, the recently discovered "vaginal" engraving clearly meant as an insult, surprising the researchers. The depth of the stone carvings shows that this person spent a lot of time on this work.