A metal detectorist in Wales unearthed a Roman silver “ligula”, commonly known as a “toilet spoon”. The discovery, made in June 2020, has now been declared a treasure by Welsh authorities, along with other items.
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The museum said it has a very long handle with a small “circular bowl” on one end. The spoon was originally straight but was “bent out of shape in two places.”
A variety of uses have been suggested for Roman ligulae, including the extraction of cosmetics and perfumes from long-necked bottles and their application to the face or body, the extraction and application of medicines, and their use during medical procedures.
Silver ligulae, as opposed to the more common examples of copper alloy, are more frequently associated with these medical applications – possibly due to silver’s antimicrobial properties. This spoon contributes valuable archaeological evidence of medical knowledge and personal hygiene practices in Roman western Britain.
The 1996 Treasure Act designates the ligula as Treasure because it is over 300 years old and contains more than 10% precious metal. It will now be evaluated by the Treasure Valuation Committee to ascertain a fair market value. The toilet spoon will then be available for purchase by nearby museums for the determined value.
The Cowbridge and District Museum has expressed interest in acquiring this treasure find after it has been independently assessed by the Treasure Valuation Committee.
toilet spoon
Come on, we’re all thinking it… This is the clear predecessor of the now infamous poop knife
First thing I thought of haha
Came here for poop knife 🔪 💩
Leaving with a full heart
Removed by mod
One of the lucky ten thousand.
The world will never look the same again
Removed by mod
It makes sense, the bowl is ideal for scooping out the offending jobbie and the long handle means you could probably lob it pretty far. A turd trebuchet if you will.
You can see a clear line of evolution from shitty stick to toilet spoon to poop knife and I am skipping the faeces fork to move straight to working on the turd whisk.
A variety of uses have been suggested for Roman ligulae, including the extraction of cosmetics and perfumes from long-necked bottles and their application to the face or body, the extraction and application of medicines, and their use during medical procedures.
Not what I expected from the name “toilet spoon.”
toilet spoon is an unpleasantly evocative combination of words
In related news, I’ve decided to start referring to toilet paper as crap napkins.
Crapkins, even.
shit tickets
Bumwad
It goes in the lavatory toolbox next to the poop knife
tl;dr: has nothing to do with toilets
“Toilet” is actually one of those cute euphemisms for a thing that people don’t like to talk about, like “bathroom” or “cloakroom”. “Toilet” previously meant “dressing room”.
Amusingly, essentially all the words for a toilet are euphemisms; pretty much the only one I can think of that isn’t is “water closet”. “Lavatory” and “latrine” both meant “washroom”, “privy” meant “a private place” etc. It’s something which our language has gone to great lengths to avoid saying!
What about “crapper”
“Please excuse me, I must make a quick trip to the dumping dungeon before we continue.”
Interesting. Here in the States, “restroom” or “bathroom” (even if there is no bath in it) are the more sensitive euphemisms to use so you don’t have to say “toilet”, which is considered more vulgar/dirty.
Give it another century or so and you’ll need to invent another euphemism so that you can avoid using such a vulgar word as “restroom”!
While the whole toilet spoon thing is interesting, I’m really happy to learn that metal detectorist is a thing someone can be.
I was just always calling them a “person with a metal detector,” which now sounds weirdly politically correct.
Royal shit stirrer.
