Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1883-05-30

THE ANTIQUITY OF SPooNs.-The use
Of our common table utensil, the spoon,
| is widespread, and its invention, as 1t
appears, dates from remote antiquity.
The form which we use at the present day
"A small oval BOWL provided with a
shank and tlattened handle-is not that
which has been universally adopted. If
we examine into the manners and customs
of some of the people less civilized than
we-the Kabyles for example--we shall
find that they use round wooden spoon.
The Romans also used round spoon
which was made of copper. We might
be led from the latter fact to infer that the
primitive form of this utensil was round,
and that the oval shape was n compare
lively modern invention. But such is not
the case, for M. Chantre, in making some
excavations on the borders of Lake Pala-
tru, the waters of which had been par
TALLY drawn off, found, in good state of
preservation, wooden spoons, which in
shape were nearly like those in use at the
present day, the only difference being in the
form of the handle, which was no wider
than the shank. The l.custrine station
where these were found dates back to the
ninth century, and we therefore have evil
dence 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, and M.
Perrault has also discovered number in
Neolithic deposit in Burgundy. This
gentleman found, in addition, a pot ladle.
1.-The table spoons" he says, "are elon-
gated and exactly resemble the wooden
spoons in use in our kitchens. The bowls
vary from three to four nm. in depth"
The portions Of the handles which he
collected were too fragmentary to allow it
to be determined whether or not they ter
minated in flattcned handle like the
modern forms.
1t might be pertinent to inquire to what
possible use spoon could have been put
in the reindeer age, when raw meat was
eaten and when skin bottles were the only
water vessels. Yet genuine spoon made
of reindeer horn, has been discovered in
the Grotto of Gourdon. 1t is oval, very
long and quite shallow. Its handle is very
elegant, being covered with engraved
figures. Unfortunately it is broken, so
that it is impossible to say whether the
naDulb was lltllBueu. uC SllSuJ u6plu VI
the spoon should not surprise us, for the
men who made it knew neither soups nor
sauces, and they could only have used itfor
the purpose of extracting the marrow
from the long bones of large animals or
for eating the brain of the latter, and for
such uses the depth OF the bowl was of
small consequence. M. Piette has like
wise found other well characterized spoons
in deposits of the reindeer age. One of
these, more delicate, narrower, deeper
and less elegant than the one just mention
cd, was found in one of the lowermost |
strata. At still greater depth in the
same deposit he came across a thick,
rudely made spoon, which appeared |
never to have had any handle. 1t was
made of rough dressed bone, with polish
ed edges, and its shape was oval. Before
the invention of such an implement as a
spoon, man of the reindeer age employed
the spatula; and this is found at all depths
in tho Gourdan and lower deposits. Mr..
discovered in the Grotto of
Alhat a fragment of reindeer horn hollow
ed out in its whole length, and apparently |
designed for holding liquors; and similar
utensils were found Dy M. Petite at
Gourdan. These, however, were prob.
ably only temporarily used ms spoons,
the only genuine spoons which have been
discovered being those described above
aud which served as models for Neolithic |
man, who aflorward appeared on tho
scene,