As a central task of museums, creating an inventory depends on reliable reference works and a consistent terminology. This volume is dedicated to a group of objects that have hitherto not been placed in a concise typological schema: needles and pins, from the Upper Paleolithic to the High Middle Ages. Sewing needles and pins are indispensable to the production of clothing, and needles serve as jewelry, body ornamentation, or as metalworking tools. They can be made of bone or metal, and their designs range from simple to elaborated decorated examples. The thesaurus presents the astonishing diversity of types and forms. It is addressed to laypeople as well as scholars and offers various depths of access for creating an inventory of them.

Ronald Heynowski, Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen, Dresden