Medieval Set of Eating Utensils

Olde English Bokes Of Curtesye (Books of Courtesy) admonished readers not to spit across the table, butter bread with their thumbs, or wipe their teeth and knives on the tablecloth! Still, uncouthness often reigned, even at a noble's table. Utensils like these were used from the early Iron Age to the Middle Ages and had to compete with the convenience of fingers.