The Roos Carr Figurines

 What a creepy couple of little buggers these are .....

The Original Slender Men?

You wouldn't want to mess with them .... even though they are only between 35 and 41 cm tall.

Actually these two are part of a small tribe of such figures. My attention was bought to them by a post by archaeologist and finds Officer for the Welsh Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS Cymru), Adelle Bricking, who tweeted them.

These wooden figurines were found in 1836 in a ditch by workmen at Roos Carr, near Withernsea in East Yorkshire, England. They were about two metres below the surface, along with a collection of other well-preserved wooden objects, which included several of these 'warrior' figures with stone eyes. They were passed around amongst local antiquarians, and eventually four of the figures, together with a boat and various other attachments which seemed to be arms, paddles and shields, which were all given to the Hull Literary and Philosophical Society.

They Are Not Armless After I Put The Arms Back

This society morphed, and its objects eventually became part of the collections of Hull Museums. In 1902 a fifth figure was also acquired by the museum, as one of the ditch cleaners had handed it to his daughter as an 'ancient doll.' 19th century conservation methods were a bit crude, but recently, the figures were conserved using more sympathetic methods and they were taken out of the boat, into which the antiquarians had nailed them. Modern examination of all the yew wood figures suggest that there were originally two boats, complete with fully equipped crews.

Interestingly they seem to have been made with detachable penises, and are known to be about 2,600 years old, which places them in the Late Bronze or Early Iron Age. Their purpose is more difficult to fathom ... best bet seems to be votive offerings of some kind, perhaps gods or ancestor figures. They were possibly originally deposited in or near water, which would be similar to other bog deposits within the wider European cult practice of depositing items such as metalwork and bodies in rivers, and marshes.

Apparently they are not totally unique to Roos Carr, and another nine other surviving such figures have been found in Britain and Ireland, with dates ranging from about 2,500 BC to 148 BC. They are all made from different woods ranging from Ash, Pine, Yew or Oak. The choice of woods is possibly of significance, and may relate to a particular god such as Odin (or his earlier manifestation, Ull), and the Yew tree.

Some are of the figures are definitely male, with fixed penises, while others like the Roos Carr figures, have removable genitalia and so could be either male or female. One, from Ballachulish in Scotland, is unambiguously female with no penis holes or carved one, and with breasts.

.... I would love to own one!