A recent study has recontextualised a small copper-alloy artefact from Predynastic Egypt, identifying it as the earliest securely attested rotary metal drill in the Nile Valley.
The object, dated to the late fourth millennium BC (ca. 3300–3000 BC), predates the political unification of Egypt and the emergence of the pharaonic state.
The artefact was originally excavated in the early twentieth century from Grave 3932 at the Badari cemetery in Upper Egypt. Now housed in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (catalogue no. 1924.948 A), it measures 63 mm in length and weighs approximately 1.5 g. When first published in the 1920s, it was briefly described as “a little awl of copper, with some leather thong wound round it,” a characterisation that led to decades of relative scholarly neglect.
A new interdisciplinary reassessment by researchers at Newcastle University and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna challenges that interpretation. Microscopic analysis revealed diagnostic use-wear patterns—fine circumferential striations, edge rounding, and slight distal curvature—consistent with sustained rotary motion rather than simple puncturing. These features strongly indicate that it was used as a drill bit rather than an awl.
The study, published in Egypt and the Levant, also reexamined six tightly wound coils of extremely fragile leather thong preserved around the shaft. The authors argue that these are the remains of a bowstring, providing rare organic evidence for the use of a bow drill. In such systems, a cord is wrapped around a vertical shaft and driven by a reciprocating bow, generating rapid rotational motion and significantly improving efficiency and control compared with hand-twisting methods.
Lead author Martin Odler (Visiting Fellow, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University) emphasises that while monumental architecture and elite material culture dominate narratives of ancient Egypt, technological systems underpinning craft production remain comparatively underdocumented. Drilling technology was fundamental to woodworking, bead manufacture, and stoneworking—industries central to both domestic and elite production.
The identification of this object as a bow drill implies that Egyptian craftspeople had mastered mechanically assisted rotary drilling more than two millennia before the best-preserved drill sets of the New Kingdom (mid–late second millennium BC). Bow drills are well attested in later Egyptian contexts, including tomb scenes in the Theban necropolis on the west bank of Luxor that depict artisans drilling beads and wooden objects.
Metallurgical analysis conducted using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) further revealed a complex alloy composition. In addition to copper, the artefact contains arsenic and nickel, as well as measurable quantities of lead and silver. This composition would have produced a harder and potentially more visually distinctive metal than unalloyed copper. The presence of lead and silver may reflect deliberate alloying strategies and suggests participation in broader exchange networks across the eastern Mediterranean during the fourth millennium BC.
Beyond its technological implications, the study underscores the continued research potential of legacy museum collections. A minimally described artefact excavated a century ago has proven to preserve not only early evidence of metallurgical sophistication but also rare organic remains that illuminate the operational mechanics of Predynastic tool use.
Sources : Newcastle University
