Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1884 — Antiquity of the Spoon. [ARTICLE]

Antiquity of the Spoon.

The use of the spoon is widespread, and dates from remote antiquity. The form which we use at the present day—a sum! oval bowl, provided with a shank and flattened handle —is not tliat which lias been universally adopted. If we look into the manners and customs of some of the people less civilized than we—the Kabyles, for evample—we shall find that they use a-round wooden spoon. Romans alsoused a round spoon, which was made of copjter. We might be led, from the latter fact, to infer that the primitive form of this utensil was round, and that the oval shape is a comparatively modern invention. But such is not the case, for M. Chantre, in making some excavations on the borders of Lake Paladan, the waters of which had been partially drawn off, found, in a good state of preservation, - •wooden spoons which, .in shape, were nearly like those in use at the present day, tho only difference being in the form of the handle, which was no wider than the shank. The lacrustrine station where these were found dated back to the ninth century, and we therefore, have evidence that oval spoons were already in use during the Carlovingian epoch. The Neolithic people used oval spoons made of baked clay. Several fragments of such have been found in the Seine.— Exchange.