Bone object. ?Ivory spatulate. From CHR76-80, Chester Road, Winchester, Hampshire. Excavated by K. Gordeuk and G. Scobie, 1976-80.

Bone weaving tool

Late Saxon or early medieval

Found during excavations by Winchester Museums Service Archaeology Section at Chester Road, Winchester in the late 1970s

This object, sometimes called a pin beater, was used for lifting the warp threads and beating the weft threads during weaving. Designed to pick up a small number of warp threads at one time, it would have been most useful for patterned work. Bone objects employed in textile manufacture often acquired an attractive polish from use, as here.