Wikipedia
thumb|270px|The Dunaverney flesh-hook Flesh-hook is a term for a variety of archaeological artefacts which have metal hooks and a long handle, or socket for a lost wooden handle. Though the term may be applied to objects from other times and places, it is especially associated with the European Bronze Age and Iron Age. The metal shaft divides to form between two and five hooks with some sort of sharpened end. The purposes of the objects probably include pulling meat out of a pot or hides out of tan-pits. Some are plain in design but many are elaborately decorated, and if related to food, are clearly for the feasting hall rather than the kitchen (if such a distinction existed); some have been found with cauldrons and other large vessels. Some Bronze Age types are regarded as ritual objects, perhaps never actually used for a practical purpose. The division and serving of meat at feasts and after sacrifices was a matter of great social significance, and some tension, in several cultures, as we know from early literatures; it is recorded as leading to fatal violence in both classical Greece and Irish mythology (see Champion's portion).
The Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament contains passages referring to the use of fleshhooks, one with three hooks, being used by Israelite priests to pull meat out of a cauldron. The cauldron contained meat from sacrificed animals being cooked in a liquid .
There are only thirty-six known flesh-hooks from the Atlantic Bronze Age (2300600 BC) Many more Iron age examples exist.
Notable examples:
- The very elaborate Bronze Age Dunaverney flesh-hook, found in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
- The Bronze Age Little Thetford flesh-hook, found in Cambridgeshire, England
Usage examples of "flesh-hook".
He was going to die, and he was helpless, childlike, and he sobbed to himself and the pain was like flesh-hooks ripping him apart, and he dreamed again.
His right arm was wounded so he held his wrist with his left hand and scythed the Kligenthal in a glittering, air singing blow and Sharpe stepped back, let the blade pass, and then shouted his exultation as he lunged forward, picking his spot, and he did not hear Hogan shouting at him, nor Harper's cry of acclamation, for the blade was going into Leroux's body at the exact place where Leroux had wounded Sharpe, and Leroux let the Kligenthal go, his mouth opened, and his hands clutched at the blade that still pierced him, a flesh-hook that tortured him, that went through skin and muscle and tore the scream from him.
His right arm was wounded so he held his wrist with his left hand and scythed the Kligenthal in a glittering, air singing blow and Sharpe stepped back, let the blade pass, and then shouted his exultation as he lunged forward, picking his spot, and he did not hear Hogan shouting at him, nor Harper’s cry of acclamation, for the blade was going into Leroux’s body at the exact place where Leroux had wounded Sharpe, and Leroux let the Kligenthal go, his mouth opened, and his hands clutched at the blade that still pierced him, a flesh-hook that tortured him, that went through skin and muscle and tore the scream from him.
His left arm saved him, and it was as if someone had plunged a flesh-hook into his armpit, was gouging and twisting, and he sobbed with agony as fresh blood sprang from the opened wound and soaked his chest.
The pain of the probe was excruciating, like having a white hot flesh-hook jammed and twisted into his shoulder joint.