A stone knife from Denmark showing clear knapping marks. Whanganui Regional Museum Collection Ref: TE675.19
A stone knife from Denmark showing clear knapping marks. Whanganui Regional Museum Collection Ref: TE675.19
It seems there's a day for everything, and this week is no exception with the marking of National Knife Day on August 24.
Possibly a strange item to celebrate, but they certainly do make our lives easier at times and have been around for a very long time.
The earliest knives were made during the Lower Paleolithic period 2.6-1.7 million years ago. These basic stone tools were made by hammering a chunk of flint or other stone with a larger rock to chip away flakes and create a sharp edge, in a process called knapping.
These early tools are known as Oldowon Mode 1 tools, named for the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania where they were first discovered. It is believed these basic blades were used for slicing and chopping, as well as a weapon when needed.
A million years later the next mode of tools appeared, Acheulean Mode II named for the site of Saint-Acheul in France where they were found. Dating 1.7-0.13 million years ago, they were more advanced versions of the Oldowon tools with symmetrical knapping on both sides of the blade.
The technique was refined with the use of antler, bone, or wood for knapping, which gave control over the shape of the blade.
The Whanganui Regional Museum holds a small collection of stone knives, including the one pictured here found in Denmark. This stunning example clearly shows the careful knapping that has gone into shaping the symmetrical blade.
A lump of shaped rock might not seem that important, but anthropologists theorised this tool evolved through our need for survival and had long-lasting impacts.
Knives were useful for cooking, eating, slicing meat and vegetables (or enemies), hunting, and even building homes. Making these previously time-consuming jobs easier and quicker allowed for more spare time, which was used on socialising and developing other skills.
The pistol-handled dining knives presented to Peter Imlay. Whanganui Regional Museum Collection Ref: 1958.209
Fast forward a few millennia to the Bronze Age and metal knives began to appear. These blades made from bronze and copper were stronger and lighter than the stone blades and made warfare and hunting more efficient, although they didn't stay sharp for long, and stone was still needed to keep the edge.
Mining for the materials used to make the blades became an important industry, which opened trade routes and increased communication.
Another thousand years later and the Iron Age saw the advent of smelting and the creation of stronger metals again, which kept their edge and shape much longer.
As metalwork advanced, knives became more refined and more commonplace, eventually finding their way onto the dinner table.
Legend has it in 1637 Cardinal Richelieu of France got fed up with his dinner guests using their blades to intimidate other guests, pick their teeth or stab his tabletop, so he ordered his kitchen staff to file off the pointed tips to rounded ends. And thus, the table knife was born.
The museum holds a beautiful set of pistol-handled knives with rounded tips, pictured here. They are part of a dining set made in England and presented to Peter Imlay who settled in Whanganui.
So how is it recommended we mark this celebration of our understated but important tool that has aided our development and evolution? You could clean and sharpen your own knives; ask a chef about their favourite knife (yes, they will have one); or simply slice something, safely of course.
• Sandi Black is the archivist at Whanganui Regional Museum.
