Description

Summary: 1 bronze awl with a square tang and fragments of a bone handle attached, found with a primary cremation (female?) inside an Enlarged Food Vessel urn in bowl barrow Winterbourne Stoke G28, excavated by William Cunnington.

Research results

A Bronze Age copper alloy awl, found with a primary cremation in bowl barrows Winterbourne Stoke G28, excavated by William Cunnington in the early 19th century. Similar awls were often thought to be leather working tools, however use wear analsis has cast doubt on this, suggesting that the tools were either little used, or used to punch something much softer, possibly human skin in tattooing or for medicinal reasons. The cremation and awl were placed inside a food vessel, and fragments of a bone handle remain affixed to the handle.

This object was examined as part of the research published in Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods; a six-year research project carried out by Professor John Hunter and Dr Anne Woodward and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Aided by a large number of other specialists the pair undertood an exhuastive study examining over 1000 objects held in 13 museums across the country in order to provide an extensive overview of burial practices in the period and identify regional practices.