The invention of scissors can be traced to the spring scissors used in ancient Egypt as early as 1500 BC. Modern scissors, a simple combination of levers that pivot around a point between the blade and the handles, came into use in Rome and the Far East at about the same time, 100 CE. Over time, they have been made out of a variety of metals, and though different styles have developed, the basic shape has not varied much. Sewing scissors, like the ones found at the Williams’ site, often have one handle with a larger grip than the other. The seamstress puts her thumb in the smaller hole and her four fingers in the larger one.
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University of Texas at Austin
College of Liberal Arts
