It might have been an amulet, a charm, an object of ritual significance.

It might have represented something specific in the belief system of the people who buried her.

It might have been a practical object — bacula from small mammals were used in various ways by Indigenous peoples across North America.

Whatever it meant, its deliberate inclusion in the burial indicates that those who buried her thought it should accompany her.

The eyed needle is particularly evocative.

It is one of the oldest sewing needles ever found in North America.