Description

Summary: 1 bronze awl with flat tang found by the feet of a primary male and female (shaman/metalworker?) inhumation in bowl barrow Upton Lovell G2a, excavated by William Cunnington

Research results

A Bronze Age copper alloy awl excavated by William Cunnington in 1801 from the bowl barrow Upton Lovell G2a, the 'shaman' burial. The ring was deposited with a primary double inhumation of a crouched male and female, who had been deposited with a large number of objects, including a large number of perforated bone points and boar tusks, a jet ring and polished flint and stone axes. It has typically been assumed that these tools were used in leather working, however, a recent study has suggested that they were perhaps used for something softer, potentially used in marking human skin.

This object was examined as part of the research published in Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods; a six-year research project carried out by Professor John Hunter and Dr Anne Woodward and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Aided by a large number of other specialists the pair undertood an exhuastive study examining over 1000 objects held in 13 museums across the country in order to provide an extensive overview of burial practices in the period and identify regional practices.

This object, along with the other grave goods found with the primary double-inhumation of Upton Lovell G2a, has been examined by Tsoraki et al. (2022) as part of the Beyond the Three Age System. This study identified use wear traces consistent with the objects use with compressive force against a material of medium hardness.