Sewing needle

Burial from Veien – cremation grave from the Early Roman Iron Age
c.0-160CE

This long sewing needle is categorised as a tool. Alone it cannot be dated precisely but is found alongside other tools which may be dated to the Roman Iron Age. In this grave, a knife, a bone comb, and a sickle were also found.

The sewing needle is an old crafting tool and has been known since the Stone Age.This large needle has probably been used to sew items that would not be damaged by the sizable tool, like making shoes and other types of leatherworks. Perhaps it was used for entirely different purposes, such as a form of tapestry?
 
Very few items of clothing are preserved from this time. However, in the Early Iron Age, shoes were made of animal hides. Shoes were made from a rectangular piece of leather scrunched together and fitted with a leather strap threaded through holes in the front and back. Mending shoes from wear and tear was probably just as normal for people in the Iron Age as it is today. A good sewing needle was a practical tool, for sure.