How did the spoon and fork come to be? Is it a technology all early civilizations share?

by pfitz6
intangible-tangerine

In terms of cutlery (eating utensils) nope.

The knife and the spoon can be traced back to prehistoric times, in the forms of basic cutting and scooping tools used in consuming foods and liquids.

But the Fork was only used for serving food, to hold meat that's being carved for example. It was not an eating tool. Instead you would use the pointy end of your knife to hold morsels of food or you would simply use your fingers.

We have archaeological evidence that the fork existed at least since the fourth millennium BC, early ones being found around Ancient Asia Minor (Turkey), Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, indeed we can see an awareness of the basic shape in the trident weapon, but it was not the fork we know today. It was a tool for cooking, not for eating.

It's not until the Middle ages that Forks as eating tools begin making inroads in the Middle East and thence travel through the Byzantine Empire, through Southern Europe and eventually become popular in Western Europe by the 1600s.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/06/the_history_of_the_fork_when_we_started_using_forks_and_how_their_design_changed_over_time_.html

http://leitesculinaria.com/1157/writings-the-uncommon-origins-of-the-common-fork.html

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