, 1880-09-24
Antiquity of the Spoon.

Tho use of our common table utensll,
,,o snoor. is widespread, and its inven-
t;nr taU y as it appears, dates from remote
o,y, ontiouity lhe form which we use at
49, uho nresent DAYS small oval bowl, pro
'';Jod va with a shank and flattened han
lis not that which has been univer-
coll eaIIv adopted. If We examine into the
" ,monners and customs CT some Of the
noonIes less civilized than we-the ka-
EEl EEvlas for example-we shall find that
tIev use small round wooden spoon.
Tho Romans also used round spoon,
which was made of copper. We might
ha led from the latter facts to infer that
+he primitive form of this utensil was
round. and that the oval shape was
comparatively modern invention. But
sucb is not the case, for M. Chantre, in
making some excavations on the bor-
ders Of Lake Paladru, the waters of
which had been partially drawn Oft,
found, in o good state of preservation,
wooden spoons which in shape were
nearly like those in use at the present
dav, the only difference being in the
form OF the handle, which was no wider
than the shank. The lacustrine station
where these were found dates back to
the ninth century, and we therefore
have evidence that oval spoons were al.
ready in use during the Carlovingian
epoch. % q ga G9 @sN
The Neolithio.p people used oval spoons
made of baked clay Several Fragments
of such have been found in the Seine,
and NJ. Perraulsslass also Adiscoyered a
number in eNeolithic deposit in Bur
gundy. This gentlernan found, insaddi-
tiop, a pot .ladle. "The tablespoons"
says he, "ape, elongated and exactly re-
semble the wooden spoons iagpse in our
kitchens. Their bowls vary from 3 to
IA mllimeters in depth" The portions
of the handles which he collected were
too fragmentaiyy TO ALLOW its to be
determined whether or not they
terminated ips "a 4attsned handle likeI
the modern forms, HIt might bej terS- /
nent to inquire to what possible use a
spoon could have been put in theiein-
deer age, when raw meat was eaten and
vixen skin bottles were the only water
vessels Yet genuine spoon, made pf
reindeers horn, has been discovered in
the Grotto Of Gourdan. 1t is. oval,
very long and quite shallow. Its handle
is very elegdnt, being covered with en-
graved figures. sUnfortunately, it is
broken so that it is impossible to say
whether thoshandle was flattened. The
slight deptlraof the spoon should not
surprise us, Tor the men who made it,
knew ngithet soups nor sauces, andtlIeyI
could only have used il for'the, purpose
Of extracting marrow from the long
bones of large animals, or for eatinglthe
brains Of the 4atter, and for such uses
depth of bowl was Of small consequence.
NJ. Piette has likewise found other
welLcharactefasa sPoois: m deposits 81
the reindeer age. ~Ohe Of .these, more
delicate, narrowerA AdeeperIand less ely
CANT than the one just menconed, was
found in one of the lowermost strata.
At still greater depth in the same de-
posit he came across thick, rudely
made spoon, which loppeared never. to,
have had any handleIl 1t was made Of
rough-dressed bone, without polished
edges, and its shape was oval. Before
the invention of such an implement as
aspoon, man of the reindeer age EN-
ployed the spatula, and this is found at
all depths IN the Gourdan and Lourtet
deposits. NJ. Garrigan discovered il
the Grotto Of Alliat fragment of a
reindeer's horn followed out in its whole
length, and apparently designed for hold
ing liquids; and similar utensils were
found by NJ. Petite at Gourdan. These,
however, We're probably only tempor-
arily used as spoons, the only genuine
spoons which have been discovered being
those described above, and which served
as models for Neolithic man, who after
ward appeared on the scene. ,'.fa''