Northumberland's Vindolanda Revealed Explicit Ancient Graffiti

At a historic tourist site in Northumberland, a volunteer found rude and explicit ancient Roman graffiti.

Someone called Secundinis must have upset someone long ago at a Roman fort in Northumberland.

The excavated stone bore graffiti from the Third Century, leaving no doubt as to what Secundinis meant to the carver.

The message in stone beside the image of a phallus reads, "Secundinis, the shitter."

On his second week volunteering on the excavations at Vindolanda in Northumberland, Dylan Herbert, a retired biochemist from South Wales, was surprised by the language and depiction he had found on a stone. Before he took a closer look at the stone, Dylan had no idea what it was.

Having removed a lot of rubble all week, this stone had been a bother to Dylan. The news that I could get it out of the trench made me happy.

In addition to the obvious phallus carved on this stone, the face of the stone measures 40 cm wide by 15 cm tall and is engraved with SECVNDINVS CACOR.

Inscriptions, messages from the past, are always a welcome find during Roman excavations, but this one caught our attention when deciphered the message on the stone,' said Dr Andrew Birley, director of excavations.