Editing Spoon (section)

==History==
[[File:Catalogue of the silver plate (Greek, Etruscan and Roman) in the British Museum (1921) (14764117764).jpg|thumb|Assorted spoons of the Roman world (British Museum)]]
[[File:Post Medieval Seal Top Spoon (FindID 221156).jpg|thumb|Medieval spoons with ''seal top'']]
Preserved examples of various forms of spoons used by the [[ancient Egypt]]ians include those composed of [[ivory]], [[flint]], [[slate]] and wood, many of them carved with [[religious symbol]]s.<ref name="enc">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Spoon|volume=25|page=733}}</ref> During the [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic]] [[Ozieri culture|Ozieri civilization]] in [[Sardinia]], ceramic [[Ladle (spoon)|ladles]] and spoons were already in use. In [[Shang dynasty]] China, spoons were made of bone. Early [[bronze]] spoons in China were designed with a sharp point, and may have also been used as [[cutlery]].<ref name="Needham">{{cite book|title=Science and Civilisation in China: Fermentations and Food Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgtFxedkgbcC&pg=PA106|year=2000|author=Joseph Needham|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-65270-4|page=106}}</ref> The spoons of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]]s and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]]s were chiefly made of bronze and silver and the handle usually takes the form of a spike or pointed stem.<ref name="enc"/> There are many examples in the [[British Museum]] from which the forms of the various types can be ascertained, the chief points of difference being found in the junction of the bowl with the handle.<ref name="enc"/> The ancient Greeks called the spoon ''mystron'' (μύστρον), and they also used pieces of bread scooped out in the shape of a spoon, which they called, ''mystile'' (μυστίλη).<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:id=cena-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Cena]</ref><ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0062%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D16%3Aentry%3Dmystile-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Mystile]</ref>

A 2024 study by archaeologist [[Andrzej Kokowski]] and biologists from [[Maria Curie-Skłodowska University]] in [[Lublin]], [[Poland]], identified 241 small, spoon-shaped objects at 116 archaeological sites across [[Scandinavia]], [[Germany]], and Poland, dating back to the Roman era. These sites primarily consisted of marshes and graves. The study proposes that these objects, often found alongside items associated with warfare and featuring a small disk 10-20 millimeters in diameter, were likely used to administer drugs, especially stimulants, before battles. Germanic peoples of the era had access to various substances with potential medicinal or psychoactive properties, including [[poppy]], [[hops]], [[hemp]], [[henbane]], belladonna, and certain fungi.<ref>{{cite web | last=Gruyter | first=De | title=Barbarian warriors in Roman times used stimulants in battle, findings suggest | website=Phys.org | date=2024-12-02 | url=https://phys.org/news/2024-12-barbarian-warriors-roman.html | access-date=2024-12-05}}</ref>

[[File:Birckala 1017 spoon.jpg|thumb|A [[Crusades|Crusade-era]] spoon from 1017 that was found on archaeological excavation of [[Tursiannotko]] in [[Pirkkala]], [[Finland]]]]
In the early [[Muslim world]], spoons were used for eating soup.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World|first=James E.|last=Lindsay|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2005|isbn=0-313-32270-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinmedie00lind/page/128 128]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinmedie00lind/page/128}}</ref> [[Middle Ages|Medieval]] spoons meant for domestic use were commonly made of cow [[Horn (anatomy)|horn]] or [[wood]], but [[brass]], [[pewter]], and [[latten]] spoons appear to have been common in about the 15th century.<ref name="enc"/> The full descriptions and entries relating to [[silver]] spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their special value and rarity.<ref name="enc"/> The earliest [[England|English]] reference appears to be in a will of 1259.<ref name="enc"/> In the wardrobe accounts of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] for the year 1300 some gold and silver spoons marked with the ''[[fleur-de-lis]]'', the [[Paris]] mark, are mentioned.<ref name="enc"/> One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the [[Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom#Coronation_Spoon|Coronation Spoon]] used in the [[Coronation of the British monarch#Anointing|anointing of the English and later British sovereign]]; this 12th-century object is the oldest surviving item in the British royal regalia.<ref name="enc"/>

The sets of [[Apostle Spoons]], popular as christening presents in [[Tudor period|Tudor times]], the handles of which terminate in heads or busts of the apostles, are a special form to which [[antiquarian]] interest attaches.<ref name="enc"/> The earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an [[acorn]], plain knob or a [[diamond]]; at the end of the 16th century, the [[baluster]] and [[seal (impression)|seal]] ending becomes common, the bowl being [[ficus|fig]]-shaped.<ref name="enc"/> During [[English Restoration|The Restoration]],{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} the handle becomes broad and flat, the bowl is broad and oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the [[Red Deer|hind]]'s foot.<ref name="enc"/>

In the first quarter of the 18th century, the bowl becomes narrow and [[Ellipse|elliptical]], with a tongue or rat's tail down the back, and the handle is turned up at the end.
The modern form, with the tip of the bowl narrower than the base and the rounded end of the handle turned down, came into use about 1760.<ref name="enc"/>

<gallery>
File:Cuillère Fontalès Paléolithique MHNT.PRE.2010.0.11.1.jpg|Spoon engraved in reindeer antler, [[Magdalenian]] c.&nbsp;17,000{{snd}}c.&nbsp;12,000 BCE
File:Shang Bronze Spoon (9930355444).jpg|Bronze spoon, [[Shang dynasty]]
File:Hoxne Hoard 20.jpg|Roman spoons from the [[Hoxne hoard]], c.&nbsp;4-5th century CE 
File:Spoon national museum india.JPG|[[Jade]] spoon, [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] dynasty, India 
File:MaryRose-wooden spoon3.JPG|Wooden spoon found on board the 16th century carrack ''[[Mary Rose]]''
File:Yurok (Native American). Spoon, 19th century. Antler.jpg|Native American [[Yurok]] spoons, 19th century
Achaemenid spoon 4TH Century B.C.jpg| [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] spoon (400 BC)
</gallery>