File:Bronze Age Awl (profile and plan). (FindID 568874).jpg

English: A copper alloy Bronze Age awl: The awl is sub-square in section and elongated rectangle in plan which is bent at c. 45° just below the approximate midpoint. One terminal gradually tapers to a blunt point. The other terminal expands slightly in width and flattens in depth forming a rectangular sectioned blade/chisel. This terminal is abraded and is rounded. The surface has an incomplete heavy dark brown otherwise it is abraded. In length the awl is 77.99mm, 5.94mm wide and 5.38mm thick. It weighs 9.3g.

From the PAS website: <a href="http://finds.org.uk/bronzeage/objects/awl">http://finds.org.uk/bronzeage/objects/awl</a> Awls are difficult to date but most 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 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. Dating and areas of discovery

Date: most probably 1250-800 BC
Distribution: All over Britain and Ireland

References

• Coles, J M (1964) 'Scottish Middle Bronze Age Metalwork', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 97 (1963-4)
• Rowlands, M.J. (1976) 'The Production and Distribution of Metalwork in the Middle Bronze Age in Southern Britain: Part ii'. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.