Bone eyed tool. From TS 1964, Tower Street, Winchester, Hampshire.

Eyed weaving tool of bone

Late Saxon or medieval, 11th to 13th century

Found during excavations by the Winchester Excavations Committee at Tower Street, Winchester in the mid- 1960s

The eye of this type of weaving tool might not have been meant to carry thread, but to aid tying several tools together when not in use. Such tools may have been used to free caught threads during weaving. If so, their relative slenderness suggests that they were employed for small items such as tablet-woven braids and ribbons. For further information, see Professor Martin Biddle's (1990) book, Winchester Studies 7.ii, Object and Economy in Medieval Winchester, catalogue number 223.