Archaeologists Find an Unusual 2500-year-old Stylus in Sicily

An archeological operation conducted in advance of a construction project in Gela, Sicily, has uncovered an unusual carved bone stylus—a sharp tool used to inscribe clay before firing—that, according to excavation director Gianluca Calà, may have had a symbolic purpose. The news was reported by the Spanish magazine La Brújula Verde. The stylus was discovered during a survey of the building site for a new Palace of Culture; such investigations are not uncommon in areas known to have potential archeological value, and Gela, once a powerful ancient Greek city, is known for its extensive ruins. A bit more than five inches long, the stylus dates to the 5th century BC and was found in the remains of a Hellenistic-period center for artisanal production. Its design is out of the ordinary, with a quadrangular handle featuring, at the top, the face of the Greek god Dionysus and, midway down, a finely rendered erect phallus. The form of the handle mimics that of an ancient Greek herm—a squared stone pillar surmounted by a bust and sometimes decorated at the appropriate height with a carving of male genitalia. Such pillars were used by the Greeks as boundary markers or signposts and symbolized fertility and good fortune. Not only does its iconography make the stylus unique, in its reference to herms and their protective powers, it may have been as much a talisman as a tool.