Archaeologists find fertility genius, godheads and oil lamps in Roman Cumbria

A fertility genius in “amazing” condition, believed to be a local deity thousands of years ago, and the carved heads of male and female Roman gods have been found by archaeologists digging at a village in Cumbria.

The vague outline of an altar can be seen below the hand of the genius, unearthed in a 2,500-square metre area at Papcastle, where the 2009 floods gave excavators the first glimpses of Roman remains.

A cap worn by the male statue comes from the Phrygian kingdom in modern-day Turkey, meaning the figure could be Mithras, who was worshipped in the north between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. Archaeologists are also speculating that he could be the Greek god Attis, which would be likely to identify the female head as Cybele – Phrygia's only known goddess.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art504494-archaeologists-find-sensational-fertility-genius-godheads-and-oil-lamps-in-roman-cumbria