A specialist in prehistoric archaeology discovered something very exciting recently while doing work on Astypalaia, an island off the coast of Greece: dicks and dicks galore. According to Dr. Andreas Vlachopoulos, the erotic graffiti and inscriptions he discovered are the oldest on earth.

The inscriptions are reportedly "monumental in scale" and "tantalizingly clear." Found on the Vathy peninsula, the graffiti dates back to the fifth and sixth centuries B.C.

Via the Guardian:

Chiselled into the outcrops of dolomite limestone that dot the cape, the inscriptions have provided invaluable insight into the private lives of those who inhabited archaic and classical Greece. One, believed to have been carved in the mid-sixth century BC, proclaimed: "Nikasitimos was here mounting Timiona (Νικασίτιμος οἶφε Τιμίονα).

"We know that in ancient Greece sexual desire between men was not a taboo," added Dr Vlachopoulos, who returned to the far-flung island last week to resume work with a team of topographers, photographers, conservationists and students. "But this graffiti … is not just among the earliest ever discovered. By using the verb in the past continuous [tense], it clearly says that these two men were making love over a long period of time, emphasising the sexual act in a way that is highly unusual in erotic artwork. "

The dick discovery isn't just important proof that humans have been sexy braggarts for centuries, but it also reveals how sophisticated Grecian culture was in regards to early writing skills. Though the Acropolis had not yet been built, the Aegean graffiti shows high literacy levels.

Angelos Matthaiou, an epigrapher, told The Guardian:

"Whoever wrote the erotic inscription referring to Timiona was very well trained in writing," said Matthaiou, for more than 25 years the general secretary at the Greek Epigraphic Society. "The letters have been very skillfully inscribed on the face of the rock, evidence that it was not just philosophers, scholars and historians who were trained in the art of writing but ordinary people living on islands too."

A number of Grecian islands have yet to be truly parsed for findings like this, which means there may be many, many more dicks and erotic notes to come.

[Image via The Guardian]