[Bonetools] roman needles

[Etan Ayalon]

Dear Marloes,
Indeed some scholars have been wondering for years wether these are
needles or something else, especially as metal needles appeared in
larger numbers in the Roman period. It was suggested, for instance, that
tey were hair or clothes pins. Signs to look for:  a needle should show
a lot more use wear on the tip and shaft and around the eye than a pin.
In many pins the shaft was intentionally left rough to avoid them of
falling out of the hair or the clothes, while the shaft of a needle
should be smooth of work. If the top of the object is relatively wide or
thick, one should also wonder if it is a needle, as it could cause
damage to the cloth (but don't forget other uses of needles, such as for
medicine, with leather etc.). It is worth checking if the tops of your
"needles" show use wear - a known phenomena - which hints that some work
was done with them too. Finally - some of these objects were probably
kohl sticks (as shown in Greek art) and indeed some Caesarea needles
checked by me bear remains of reddish-brown material on their tips. We
tried to check the material in the Weizmann Institute but couldn't get a
definite answer as to their character.
You can find more, with references, in my report on the Caesarea bone
tools (BAR IS 1457, 2005, pp. 24-25.
Etan 

________________________________

From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
[mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of Marloes
Rijkelijkhuizen
Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 1:06 PM
To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
Subject: [Bonetools] roman needles



 Some Roman needles from Holland (no further context information
received..).
 
Any special things I can write about or pay attention to?
 
Best, Marloes


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