A heddle is used for weaving narrow bands or ribbons. The frame could take eleven threads and this would produce a braid 10mm wide. A heddle was used by threading warp threads of the required length alternately through the slots and holes. The ends were then knotted together and held tout. By raising or lowering the frame the threads passing through the holes rose above or fell below the threads in the slots, thus producing the 'shed 'for the weft thread. Bone heddles have also been found at Pompeii and in a late Roman grave in Hungary.

dimensions: 84 x 47 mm

provenance: South Shields Roman Fort (UK)

date: 2^nd – 4^th century