Amazing stuff!
"Researchers ... have re-examined a small copper-alloy object excavated a century ago from a cemetery at Badari in Upper Egypt, and concluded it is the earliest identified rotary metal drill from ancient Egypt, dating to the Predynastic period (late 4th millennium BCE), before the first pharaohs ruled.
The artefact (catalogued as 1924.948 A in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge) was found in Grave 3932, the burial of an adult man. When first published in the 1920s, the artefact - which is only 63 millimetres long and weighs about 1.5 grams - was described as “a little awl of copper, with some leather thong wound round it.” That brief note proved easy to overlook, and the object attracted little attention for decades.
However, under magnification, the researchers found that the tool shows distinctive wear consistent with drilling: fine striations, rounded edges, and a slight curvature at the working end, all features that point to rotary motion, not simple puncturing. ..."
From the abstract:
"This study presents a reassessment of the earliest known metal drill from Egypt, the copperalloy artefact 1924.948 A (Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, The University of Cambridge) from Badari, datable to Naqada IID. Originally published by Guy Brunton but long neglected due to insufficient documentation, the object has been re-examined through microscopic and compositional analysis.
The drill exhibits clear evidence of rotary motion and retains remnants of a leather thong, identifying it as part of a bow drill mechanism.
Portable X-ray fluorescence analysis revealed a highly unusual CuAsNi material with the addition of silver and lead, suggesting either long-distance exchange networks or underexplored Eastern Desert ore sources.
The article situates the Badari drill within the broader context of Egyptian craft technologies, tracing the development and depiction of bow drills from the Predynastic through the New Kingdom.
The technological continuity observed across nearly two millennia stresses the enduring utility of the bow drill and accentuates its significance in both woodworking and bead production. This re-evaluation not only enriches our understanding of early Egyptian tool use but also raises intriguing questions about early metallurgical knowledge and interregional interactions in the ancient Near East."
5,300-year-old ‘bow drill’ rewrites story of ancient Egyptian tools (original news release) "A new study reveals that Egyptians were using a mechanically sophisticated drilling tool far earlier than previously suggested."
Original photograph of the artefact published in 1927 by Guy Brunton (left) and the actual artefact
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