I just did a deep dive on food utensils today. I didn't look up knives because that seems silly. But spoons are the longest reigning champion of cutlery. Followed by chopsticks and then forks. I believe the oldest found spoon was from ~17,000-15,000 BCE. While the earliest found chopsticks were from 1,700-1,200 BCE.

Spoon supremacy

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

the modern spork was invented by Samuel W. Francis and issued US patent 147,119 on February 3, 1874.

[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 8 points 2 months ago

The beginning of the modern era

[–] BaroqueInMind@piefed.social 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You're telling me two god damn sticks pinched together to grasp food is younger invention than a deliberately carved concave spoon?

I call bullshit.

[–] Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I mean at least according to historical accounts and archaeology. But I'd imagine it's hard for two thin sticks of wood or bone to remain well preserved in a setting that says "food", y'know?

So, yeah, spoons it is.

Spoon supremacy

[–] jwmgregory@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 months ago

that second to last bit is particularly relevant.

we can’t really declare what the first utensils were based on current archeological evidence because the first utensils were likely made of materials that are long gone by now, for the most part.

lots of anthropologist are of the position that chopsticks likely predate spoons and forks, for generally the reasoning given in the original comment you’re replying to here. we can only really conjecture, though. maybe one day we’ll magically have enough dots to see the forest for the trees and be able to be relatively certain about it. having more data points than just human civilization would be a start, for one.

utensils are like language in of that they are an expression of our culture, so we don’t even know how many individual times across the globe utensils might have been invented, either.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Praise Munsell