A tiny copper-alloy tool long overlooked in a museum collection is reshaping what archaeologists know about the origins of human engineering.
Researchers said the artefact shows ancient Egyptians were using a mechanically sophisticated rotary bow drill more than 5,300 years ago.
The object, cataloged as 1924.948 A in the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, has now been identified as the earliest known metal drill.
The finding pushes back the timeline for advanced drilling technology by more than two millennia, forcing scholars to rethink when complex mechanical tools first emerged.
First excavated a century ago from a cemetery at Badari in Upper Egypt, the tool shows wear consistent with rotary drilling.
The tool contained arsenic and nickel, with notable amounts of lead and silver, suggesting deliberate engineering choices and pointing to early material trade or shared technical knowledge across the ancient Mediterranean.
Lead author Dr Martin Odle from Newcastle University said: ‘This re-analysis has provided strong evidence that this object was used as a bow drill, which would have produced a faster, more controlled drilling action than simply pushing or twisting an awl-like tool by hand.
‘This suggests that Egyptian craftspeople mastered reliable rotary drilling more than two millennia before some of the best-preserved drill sets.’
Researchers said the artefact shows ancient Egyptians were using a mechanically sophisticated rotary bow drill more than 5,300 years ago, far earlier than previously believed
When archaeologist Guy Brunton first documented the object in the 1920s, he described it simply as a small copper awl with leather wrapped around it.
The brief classification led the artefact to be largely overlooked for nearly a century.
Microscopic analysis revealed wear patterns inconsistent with simple puncturing or scraping. Fine striations, rounded edges, and a subtle curve at the tip indicate the tool was repeatedly rotated, pointing to sustained rotary drilling rather than basic piercing.
Researchers also found six coils of extremely fragile leather thong still wrapped around the shaft, which they said provides direct evidence of a bow drill system.
In such a mechanism, a string wound around the drill shaft is driven back and forth by a bow, rapidly spinning the tool to cut into material.
‘Behind Egypt’s famous stone monuments and jewelry were practical, everyday technologies that rarely survive archaeologically,’ Odle said.
‘The drill was one of the most important tools, enabling woodworking, bead production, and furniture making.
Bow-powered drills appeared frequently in New Kingdom tomb scenes, and several complete examples from that era survive.
Pictured is the Khufu Pyramid, also known as the Great Pyramid, in Giza Pyramid Complex, dating to about 1,000 years after the ancient drill was crafted
The Badari discovery is far older, dating to Naqada IID, and suggests Egyptians had perfected fast, controlled rotary drilling nearly two millennia before those later depictions.
Naqada IID, a late Predynastic period around 3300 to 3200 BC, saw the inception of kingship, writing, and organized religion, which would become the basis of the classical Egyptian civilization.
A study released in December revealed a discovery that changes what we know about ancient Egypt.
The discovery rewrites the timeline of Egypt’s early dynasties, placing the rise of the New Kingdom nearly a century later than previously thought.
The New Kingdom, which lasted from 1550 to 1070 BCE, was Egypt’s peak of power, wealth, and territorial expansion, the era of famous rulers like Tutankhamun.
It began with the 18th Dynasty, founded by Pharaoh Ahmose I, who reunited Egypt and expelled the Hyksos invaders, restoring central authority after a period of fragmentation.
Now, scientists have confirmed that the massive Santorini (Thera) volcanic eruption occurred before the reign of Ahmose, meaning the 18th Dynasty, and the New Kingdom itself, rose later than previously believed.
Until now, historians had often assumed the eruption might have coincided with the early New Kingdom, and some researchers even tried to link it to specific pharaohs, including Hatshepsut, Thutmose III or Ahmose I.
The breakthrough comes from radiocarbon dating of Egyptian artifacts from the 17th and early 18th Dynasties.
Researchers examined a mudbrick stamped with Ahmose’s name, a linen burial cloth, and wooden funerary figures called shabtis, all of which were directly tied to known pharaohs and their temples.
Because these objects are anchored to specific historical contexts, their ages provide a reliable snapshot of the period.
The study shows that the eruption predates these artifacts, reshaping how historians understand the rise of Egypt’s most powerful period.
