Sonic trowel

A sonic trowel was a sonic device used by archaeologists. It looked a lot like a normal trowel, but could generate a sonic field to loosen dirt from artefacts. (PROSE: The Tree of Life) It could also fire an energy beam similar to that of a sonic blaster. (TV: The Husbands of River Song)

Bernice Summerfield had hers with her when she escaped a troop ship on its way to Capella. (PROSE: Benny and Louise) She tried to use one to pick a lock once, like a sonic screwdriver. (PROSE: The Tree of Life)

River Song used her trowel to stun King Hydroflax's warrior monk bodyguards, though it was ineffective against Hydroflax's robot body. The Twelfth Doctor considered the trowel "just embarrassing" and gave River a sonic screwdriver of her own. (TV: The Husbands of River Song) River later used her trowel during her adventure in a Mesopotamian excavation site in 1924. (AUDIO: The Boundless Sea) The Fourth Doctor thought River's sonic trowel was cheeky because he'd never seen her gardening before. (AUDIO: Someone I Once Knew)