Bronze needle. From Twyford Roman Villa (bath-house), Twyford, Hampshire. Excavated by L.A.D. Montague. Roman.

Copper alloy needle

Roman, probably later Roman

Found during excavations at the Roman villa, Twyford, Hampshire in the mid- 1920s

Roman needles may be made of bone or of copper alloy, but this type, with a groove above and below the eye is invariably of copper alloy. The groove probably marked the line on which the eye should be made, and the eye itself was cut through when the object was cold.