Flesh-hook: Difference between revisions

'''Flesh-hook''' is a term for a variety of archaeological artifacts which have metal hooks and a long handle, or socket for a lost wooden handle. Though the term may be applied to objects from other times and places, it is especially associated with the [[European Bronze Age]] and Iron Age. The metal shaft divides to form between two and five hooks with some sort of sharpened end. The purposes of the objects probably include pulling [[meat]] out of a pot or [[Hide (skin)|hides]] out of [[tanning (leather)|tan]]-pits.<ref>{{Cite web | title = Oxford English Dictionary: 'flesh-hook | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2010 | url = http://dictionary.oed.com/ | accessdate = 3 July 2010}}</ref> Some are plain in design but many are elaborately decorated, and if related to food, are clearly for the feasting hall rather than the kitchen (if such a distinction existed); some have been found with cauldrons and other large vessels. Some Bronze Age types are regarded as ritual objects, perhaps never actually used for a practical purpose. The division and serving of meat at feasts and after sacrifices was a matter of great social significance, and some tension, in several cultures, as we know from early literatures; it is recorded as leading to fatal violence in both classical Greece and Irish mythology (see [[Champion's portion]]).

 

 

There are only thirty-six known flesh-hooks from the [[Atlantic Bronze Age]] (2300{{spaced ndash}}600 BC)<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Needham | first = Stuart |author2=Sheridan Bowman | title = Flesh-Hooks, Technological Complexity and the Atlantic bronze Age Feasting Complex |year=2005| journal = European Journal of Archaeology | volume = 8 | issue = 2 | pages = 93–136 | url = http://eja.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/2/93 | doi = 10.1177/1461957105066936 | accessdate = 3 July 2010}}</ref> Many more [[Iron Age]] examples exist.