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| The Roman Army Knife: Or how the ingenuity of the Swiss was beaten by 1,800 years |
| 2010-02-07 |
| The world's first Swiss Army knife' has been revealed - made 1,800 years before its modern counterpart. An intricately designed Roman implement, which dates back to 200AD, it is made from silver but has an iron blade. It features a spoon, fork as well as a retractable spike, spatula and small tooth-pick. Experts believe the spike may have been used by the Romans to extract meat from snails. The 3in x 6in (8cm x 15cm) knife was excavated from the Mediterranean area more than 20 years ago and was obtained by the museum in 1991. The unique item is among dozens of artefacts exhibited in a newly refurbished Greek and Roman antiquities gallery at the Fitzwilliam Museum, in Cambridge. I smell Piltdown Man and a rush of visitors to the FitzWilliam Museum, but look at the pictures at the link and you decide. |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #7 "Apparently the Egyptian were using the fork long before the Romans. The fork was one of many things that was forgotten during the dark ages." Yeah, but that can't be the case as we would have turned up forks in archeological digs from before 535AD. We don't. So far there are no Roman forks that predate the Dark Ages save this one that I am aware of. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-02-07 22:48 |
| #6 "Meat from snails" > D *** NG IT, there goes FRANCE's argument out the window that ROME = JULIUS CAESAR, etc. are to blame for their Escargot dishes. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-02-07 19:39 |
| #5 Crosspatch, Read the reader's comments to the original article. Apparently the Egyptian were using the fork long before the Romans. The fork was one of many things that was forgotten during the dark ages. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2010-02-07 17:10 |
| #4 I'd be more impressed if it had a spork |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-02-07 15:46 |
#3 I have a problem with this artifact because it has a fork. Forks were not used until several centuries after this artifact is said to have been produced. Forks were used primarily by royalty and the aristocracy and were not brought to Italy until much later:in the 11th Century, a Byzantine wife of a Doge of Venice brought forks to Italy. The Italians, however, were slow to adopt their use. It was not until the 16th Century that forks were widely adopted in Italy. This artifact, by having a fork, would be at least a thousand years "newer" than it is reported to be. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2010-02-07 14:57 |
| #2 Compared to the Swiss Army Knife tools look about the same. |
| Posted by: Whusotle White6027 2010-02-07 09:46 |
| #1 Well, if you do rush to the FitzWilliam Museum, you won't be disappointed - it's a wonderful museum, full of curiosities just like this one. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2010-02-07 09:37 |