Old Awl

[Sheilajeanne]

Anyone want to guess how old this awl is?

Looks like something you might have found in a modern garden, that had been left lying there for a decade or so, right? Or what the awl on your workbench might look like if you left it lying outside for enough years.

Nope, it's from the Roman fort a Vindolana, and is from the pre-Hadrian's wall period of the fort, so before 122 AD!

So cool that our craft is so old, and some things have changes so little!  

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Sheilajeanne

[fredk]

   

[chuck123wapati]

very cool indeed !!! the ones we find in Wyoming are made from stone lol.

[Handstitched]

Assuming the handle is made of wood, they must have had a wood  lathe type thingy to get it that shape ?   Cool find  

There is info regarding how jousting sticks  were made using  ' leg powered' lathes during medieval times .  But that was later in history .

HS 

 

[Sheilajeanne]

Roman civilization was pretty advanced, even in the first century. I just saw a ring posted on FB earlier today. It's a memorial ring for a young man who died in the 1st century AD, and has his 3D likeness holographically engraved in quartz crystal:  

And yes, they definitely had lathes!

https://themacabrenbold.tumblr.com/post/670202263645601792/a-2000-year-old-hologram-enclosed-in-a-gold

Edited to add: I keep looking at the above photo, and having worked on two different digs in my younger years, my first thought is: "If that person's an archaeologist, and has been working on a dig, WHY ARE THEIR HAND SO CLEAN??"  

 

Edited June 7, 2023 by Sheilajeanne

[Heartless]

16 minutes ago, Sheilajeanne said:

I keep looking at the above photo, and having worked on two different digs in my younger years, my first thought is: "If that person's an archaeologist, and has been working on a dig, WHY ARE THEIR HAND SO CLEAN??"  

i kinda thought the same thing... but then i thought, the artifact is pretty clean also, so maybe they were working in the cleaning area? LOL