Ligula (spoon)
A ligula (plural: ligulae) is a shape of a Roman spoon .
Roman spoons can be divided into two basic shapes, the ligula and the cochlear . The ligules usually have an oval spoon bowl (spoon). The stem can be straight or curved, but unlike the cochlear, it is not pointed. They are usually heavier and larger than the cochlearia, Martial describes the ever smaller gifts of a patron: “The eighth (year) he sent (me) a ligula of less than a sixth of a pound, the ninth he only brought a cochlear, lighter as a needle ”(Martial VIII 71, 9).
In the context of archaeological finds, spoons appear again and again. Silver ligules are known for example from the silver treasure of Kaiseraugst . Treasure finds like this show that these spoons were made in full sets (e.g. twelve pieces).
Others
The Albanian borrowed the name for spoon from Latin (determined luga , indefinite lugë ).
See also
literature
- Emilie Riha, Willem B. Stern: The Roman spoons from Augst and Kaiseraugst. Archaeological and metal analysis studies (= research in Augst. Vol. 5). Office for Museums and Archeology of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, Augst 1982.
- Stefan R. Hauser: Late Antiquity and Early Medieval Silver Spoons. Comments on the production of luxury goods in the 5th to 7th centuries (= yearbook for antiquity and Christianity . Supplementary volume 19). Aschendorff Verlag , Münster 1992.