Both sides could have done with the three points. Wanderers to confirm their survival status and Villa to help land a European place.
Villa looked to have done that as goals from Peter Crouch and Lee Hendrie against one by Henrik Pedersen gave them a 2-1 advantage, but with time slipping away, Wanderers surged to grab the equaliser.
Injuries played a key role for the game, Wanderers benefiting from the return of three players from the treatment table, while Villa were still reeling from the blow of losing 21-goal leading scorer Juan Pablo Angel with a knee problem.
That enabled Crouch to return to the Aston Villa frontline for the first time in two and a half months, but the game came too early for Mark Delaney, Marcus Allback and Nolberto Salano to get back into the action.
Although injuries have in the main cleared up for Wanderers, the small squad is given Sam Allardyce selection problems.
He was always going to rotate his squad for the holiday games, but his decision to put regular outfielders Ivan Campo, Nicky Hunt and Stelios Giannakopoulos on the bench still raised a few eyebrows.
There was some consolation with the return of his injured trio. Youri Djorkaeff was back after a four-game absence, Simon Charlton returned at left-back and Bruno N'Gotty was able to renew his partnership with Brazilian Emerson Thome at the heart of the defence.
Djorkaeff almost made a scoring return to the Premiership with a goal in the opening minute.
Thomas Hitzlsperger's clearance left keeper Thomas Sorensen in no-mans land and when the ball fell to the Bolton man at the far post, he screwed his shot narrowly wide.
Villa however, were not afraid to move forward and Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal was relieved to see a fierce shot from Gareth Barry flash past an upright.
But Barry played an important part in the build-up when the Midlands club took the lead in the 18th minute.
The Villa midfielder picked out Crouch with a pin-point cross from the left and the tall striker climbed easily above Charlton to head in at the far post, Jaaskelainen getting a hand to it but unable to keep the ball out.
And Villa went close to grabbing a second a few minutes later, but Hendrie's shot flew narrowly wide.
Wanderers should have been back on level terms after a neat build-up ended with Anthony Barness firing a 29th minute cross into the six-yard box.
Pedersen looked to have done enough to guide the ball past Sorensen, but Olof Mellberg was alert enough to deflect the ball away.
Jay-Jay Okocha, who had tortured and teased Villa when they went down 5 2 in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final two months ago, then decided to try his luck again, but although he put plenty of power into his 20-yard shot, Sorensen was able to gather at the second attempt.
Davies fired over the bar as Wanderers continued to try and work their way back into the game, but they were not helped by a worrying lack of cohesion in the home side's play.
The equaliser looked to have come when Djorkaeff lifted a 38th minute free-kick to Per Frandsen, who hit a thunderbolt at the Villa goal, but his fellow Dane Sorensen pulled out a terrific diving save to knock the ball away from danger.
Full-back Charlton, who at times had looked in some discomfort in the first half, did not reappear for the second 45 minutes, Hunt substituting and forcing a save out of Sorensen with his first touch of the ball.
Yet three minutes after the restart Wanderers were level, Okocha charging down Ulises De la Cruz's attempted clearance from the edge of the area, the ball falling kindly for Pederson, who whipped it into the net.
The euphoria lasted only four minutes as Villa raced back in front with a superb goal from Hendrie.
The midfielder timed his run perfectly to latch on to a Barry pass and then completed the move by chipping the ball over the advancing Jaaskelainen.
The game flared up on the hour when Crouch was booked for kicking out at Hunt, while Hendrie was also yellow carded for protesting at the decision.
Djorkaeff went close to putting Wanderers back on level terms, but poked the ball over the bar and the home side were furious when their claim for a penalty was turned down when Mellberg appeared to foul Davies.
Then Okocha's cross found Djorkaeff unmarked in the six- yard box, but the Frenchman failed to beat Sorensen with his header.
Jaaskelainen made a great save to keep out Hitzlsperger's shot and when he released the ball to Giannakopoulos, the Greek international put the ball across the Villa box for Davies to push it into the net.
Pedersen put a late chance wide as Wanderers looked for the winner, but in the end just a point was perhaps all they deserved.
Sam Allardyce praised keeper Jaaskelainen for his side's point: "He made a terrific save from Hitzlsperger late on that could have left us 3-1 down and that was the turning point.
"From there we went to the other end where Davies was brave enough to beat the defence to grab the equaliser."
David O'Leary was disappointed to see his side lose their lead so late in the game: "We should have held on to that, but we gave away stupid goals and that was that."
Man of the Match: Gareth Barry - fashioned both of Villa's goals in a tremendous all-action midfield display.