English: A Medieval tuning peg made from animal skeletal material, probably bone, probably dating 13th - 15th century. The tuning peg has a circular sectioned shank with a perforation at one end, through which the string would have passed. At the opposite end the cross-section changes to square approximately 10mm from the end.

Similar tuning pegs are published in MacGregor (1985:147) and MacGregor, Mainman & Rogers (1999:1978) they note that a key would have fitted over the square end to tune instruments such as harps, lyres or fiddles. The published examples date from the late 12th century - the end of the 13th century (MacGregor 1985:147) and the examples excavated in York mostly came from mid-late 14th century contexts but the authors note that similar groups of pegs from other sites across the country tend to derive from the 13th - 15th centuries (MacGregor, Mainman & Rogers 199:1979).

Dimensions: length: 55.98mm; width: 6.06mm; thickness: 5.97mm; diameter: 4.28mm; weight: 2.54g.

Reference: MacGregor, A. 1985. Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn. The Technology of Skeletal Materials since the Roman Period. Croom Helm, London and Sydney.

MacGregor, A. Mainman, A. J. and Rogers, N. S. H. 1999. Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn from Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval York. Council for British Archaeology, York.