a 20cm-long, 3cm-wide sculpted and polished stone object, which is dated to be about 28,000 years old, was buried in a cave in germany, the famous ‘hohle fels cave’ near ulm in the swabian jura. there can be little doubt as to its symbolic nature – it is among the earliest representations of male sexuality ever uncovered. scientists report that the prehistoric ‘tool’ was reassembled from 14 fragments of siltstone. (the tübingen team working ‘hohle fels’ already had 13 fractured parts of the phallus in storage, but it was only with the discovery of a 14th fragment that the team was able finally to put the ‘jigsaw’ together. its life size suggests it may well have been used as a sex aid by its ice age makers. (?)