AWL

A complete copper alloy awl / leather working tool of uncertain date, possibly Bronze Age but conceivably Roman or medieval.

Description: The awl is heavily patinated and has taken a lot of damage around the nib leaving it distorted and with several deep cuts across its surface. The awl has a circular cross section. With a long sharp tapering point. The opposite end to the point is significantly wider and and rounded. Some awls may have been hafted in to a wooden or bone handle however it is uncertain in this case which category it falls into.

Measurements:56.38mm long, 4mm, 5.19mm and 4.95g in weight.

Description: From the PAS website: (http://finds.org.uk/bronzeage/objects/awl) Awls are difficult to date but most copper-alloy examples are probably from the Late Bronze Age. They can have circular or square cross sections and are generally undecorated. They would have been used to make holes in leather or wood and many were probably were inserted into a handle made from organic materials. Awls were a range of rod-like tools that were usually round sectioned and pointed at one end, and rectangular sectioned with a square or chiselled edge at the other (Rowlands 1976 48). 'Awl' is often used to refer to any number of small, pointed instruments. Referred to as "pointed punches" by Coles (1963-64 117). They were presumably used for perforating leather, but it was once suggested that they were used for tattooing human skin.