Bone stylus

This stylus is used to write on the wax tablets used in Antiquity and the Middle Ages to take notes or make temporary writings.

While the stylus was at first made of iron and bone, bronze styli appear from the 1st century onwards.

The pointed end is used to incise the beeswax spread on a wooden tablet. The olive-shaped end is used to smooth the wax to erase the writing: it is the eraser...
The length varies according to the size of the wax tablets, but stays around 10 cm.

This object has the same use as those used on modern touchscreen tablets, also called a “stylus”.