Archaeological Findings

Medieval knife handles: In 1972, the handle of one of the knifes depicted here, was found during archaeological excavations at the convent in Ring near Skanderborg, Denmark. In 1984 the handle of another one was found in Kolding in remains of the medieval city. This time it was found in a pile of kitchen waste.    So far, four handles have been found in Denmark. They have all been damaged to some extent, which is probably why they have been trashed. The blade and the silver setting typical for such knifes have carefully been removed.    All but one handle depicts men, with hawks on fists, serving their birds tidbits. The last one depicts a noble virgin. The hand with the hawk is unfortunately missing, but the cuff of her gauntlet is still there. The handles are all dated to the early 14th century. These were the days of King Erik Menved and in the days where falconry was practised mainly by the nobles, which was also the only ones able to afford knifes like this. A knife like these ones were used to grab and hold food - a predecessor to the fork in other words.      Skalk, anno 1986, no. 2, pp. 3ff