Bone Needle

In the spring of 2012, while doing some sub-surface work in an area that potentially contained the remnants of a hearth (insert link to stratified hearth blog), I recovered a very tiny item in the ¼ inch screen that looked to me like a claw fragment from some kind of critter.  As the digging progressed additional faunal material was also recovered.  In the fall of 2012 I transported the recoveries to Lakehead University and had people at the anthropology department carry out a preliminary examination.  The bulk of the faunal material (most of it calcined) was small mammal unidentifiable to species.  However, the small item that looked like a claw was identified as a vestigial metatarsal fragment from a moose (Alces alces).  A what?

Within the leg structure of a moose there is a bone component referred to as a vestigial metatarsal.  In some instances this specific bone was utilized by indigenous groups to make tools.  A 3-d model of a bone awl (courtesy of Lakehead University anthropology department) is made from a moose vestigial metatarsal.  The tip has been ground to a point to create a tool for poking holes through materials such as hides.  The item labelled here as a “bone needle” is likely the tip broken off such a perforating tool (awl).  An image of the bone needle viewed at high magnification shows a high degree of polishing providing additional evidence that this artifact is the remnant of a bone tool used for making holes or sewing.