A cylindrical copper-alloy needle fragment with a broken shaft found at Torksey, Lincolnshire. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
A fragment of a copper-alloy needle found at Torksey, Lincolnshire. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

A cylindrical copper-alloy needle fragment with a broken shaft found at Torksey, Lincolnshire. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge A cylindrical copper-alloy needle fragment with a broken shaft found at Torksey, Lincolnshire. © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Needle (CM. 1844-2008)

A fragment of a copper-alloy needle found at Torksey, Lincolnshire

A cylindrical copper-alloy needle with a circular eye punched into a flattened section. Needles were a common textile tool and could be made from bone, metal or wood. They are generally considered to indicate the presence of female craftspeople, reinforcing the view that the Viking camp at Torksey was inhabited by women and children as well as the warriors of the Great Heathen Army.

Object Type

Needle

Date

circa 900 — 1000

Ascribed Culture

Original/Reproduction

Original

Material

Collection

Viking Objects

Current Location

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Keywords

copper_alloy, Danelaw Saga, Fitzwilliam_Museum, Lincolnshire, needle, textile_production, Torksey, women

Further information

You can see the original at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

This object is related to Torksey, Lincolnshire.
Find out about Torksey, Lincolnshire.

Acknowledgements

© The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

References

The Fitzwilliam Museum

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