[Nick Trueman]

Hi everyone!

Just a little thing here wich may be of interest to some of you guys? A friend sent the pic to me, I can not verify wich museum its from but I could find out?

Sorry if this has been seen before and discussed.

Cheers nick

[Nick Trueman]

[Hugh Fuller]

Damn! Somebody needs to make a replica of that. I want one!

[Russ Ellis]

Any thoughts about the accuracy of this beastie? Does it feature both a fork and a spoon?

[Matt G]

[Malcolm A]

Hi all,
I remember seeing this item on an archaeology program [think it was Britain's Channel 4 TIME TEAM or "What the Romans did for us"]
If I recall correctly the curved blade was believed to be something to do with nail care; scraping under nails and / or trimming cuticles; it was speculative, there being apparently no written record of it's functions.
What was cool was the fact that the blades did articulate and it was practical so to speak.
I too would love to have one

[Peter Johnsson]

Thank you for posting this! I had absolutely no idea about these objects.
Roman folding knives and pen knives are fine things, as neat and uselful today as they were then.
I have never hear about these combination camping/travel kits.

I need to have one of these!
The final straw to make the visit to the Fitzwilliam museum a must next time in England...

Looks like thevery thing but the knife blade is made out of tinned iron.

Simply delightful.

(interesting that the tool seems to include a pipe cleaner and tobacco stomper. Or is it something to clean out the touch hole on your roman pocket gun?... )

Again: thanks

[Russ Ellis]

I'm really wondering about the provenance of this item. As Peter mentions a couple of the other tools might be anachronistic (although to be fair they also might be something else entirely and if anyone has some ideas on what they are I would love to hear them) but it was my impression that the fork wasn't invented until the rennaissance at least? I know it seems like a no brainer but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it is a fairly recent invention (relatively) certainly not going back to Roman times? Someone correct me?

[Peter Johnsson]

I do not really doubt the authenticity of this piece. Rather I think it is most probably quite genuine, just because it is so strange and surprising.
The fork can well be a utility tool that is much older than is popularly given credit.
It was not wide spread until fairly recently… that is certain, but I am pretty sure you could see forks early on in some areas and in some circles of society. An item just such as the fork could well have seen use in roman times, only to be "forgotten" about over a few centuries. A thing that could have made several "firsts" during our history.

There were many things the romans did that did not surface again until much more recent times.

I am stil curious about the possible use of these poking/ cleaning tools.
Anyone with knowledge about dayly life in roman times that might shed some ligth on this?

[Russ Ellis]

[Peter Johnsson]

Could the long, slim one possible be a stylus?
Could the tool, with the small circular (ball shaped?) end possibly be an eraser for a wax tablet?

[Russ Ellis]

[Steve Grisetti]

[Nick Trueman]

Hi

I know forks were used and known in the eastern roman empire, my friend has reproduced a bronze byzantine fork.
I do not have a picture or refferance but if someone would like one he is only a email away.
Also large roasting forks were used during the viking age.

Also the Roman swiss army knife has a blade though badly rusted, you can just see it. I wonder if the other implements are tinned as has been suggested or pure silver?

[Torsten F.H. Wilke]

The small combination tools seem like they could have a multitude of uses. Like, for personal/dental hygiene and /or leather-working...

[Jared Smith]

Looks like pretty modern spoon/ fork, pipe ash tamper, bird gutter, and an awl to me.... Somebody was way ahead of their time!

[Hugh Fuller]

OK, Russ, I'll take a stab at it although I'll also deny any real expertise in this particular area.

There is fairly obviously a spoon and trident-style fork there as well as a rusted out knife blade. The awl like thing is likely a pick of some sort, perhaps a toothpick? The curled thing on the bottom left may well be some sort of a device for gathering small bits from down by the base of the tongue. Have you ever gotten a small pill stuck there when trying to take one? Getting a Zyrtec stuck down there gives new meaning to the word "bitter'. Finally, I have no idea what that middle thing on the bottom is unless it is an ear pick, and I have my doubts about that as the rest appear to have to do with eating and I doubt that Roman mores would permit scooping ear wax at dinner. But who knows? It might well be one.

All in all, my best estimate is that it is some kind of a combination dining device, but it is just that, an estimate.

[Russ Ellis]

[Nick Trueman]

Hi

I will have a stab at the middle contraption with small knob on the end. Anyone here ever stitched thick leather with only a awl to make the holes? Yes just about everyone has I bet. I noticed that pushing a needle through thick leather like that really hurts the thumb or finger, so I adopted a little tool to push it through for me ( yes I could use a thimble but I actually prefer the tool I made) All it is is a small piece of wooden dowel, quite thin with a tack at one end wich I have centre punched to make a little shallow for the needle head.

Just a thought, the knob looks big enough for this sort of work?

N

[Adam Noon]

Hi guys, first time post here. But seeing this thread I had to do a bit of digging around on the web. Went to the Fitzwilliam Museum and found this page.

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opac/search/c..._limit_=50

Hopefully that link works.

if not go onto the Fitzwilliam Museum and search for a 'tool/implement' as the category and then 'compund utensil' as the name.

Hope this helps

Adam