DOI article:
Hansen, Hans Ole: Experimental ploughing with a Døstrup ard replica: a report on Imitative ploughing experiments with replicas of a prehistoric ard of the Døstrup type carried out in 1962-1968
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48998#0075
PLOUGHING EXPERIMENTS
69
ture of the beam shows that it has been split out
of a curved branch. The first splitting surface is
most readily made down the centre of the branch,
and it is this surface that forms the left side of
the beam. This means that the mortise in the
beam has to be to the right of the heartwood.
Because the sap-wood or alburnum is softer, the
mortise in the beam will be weaker on the right
hand side, and this may be why the right side of
the beam mortise in the Hendriksmose ard is nar-
rower than the left (fig. 1, section z).
This difference may, of course, be the result of
continued use.
The dimensions of the mortise, very important
for making a copy of the ard, are: rear edge, 110-
114 mm high by 44-45 mm wide, front-edge 95-
99 mm high by 62 mm wide. The figures show
that the sides of the hole are lopsided.
Since the height of the stilt to the mortise is
66-44 mm, the thickness of the wooden bar-share
25 mm, and the total height of the stilt and fore-
share 91-99 mm, the play when the bar-share
and stilt are fitted in the mortise is no more than
8 mm at most. There is no room for an arrow-
shaped share and the existing bar-share was,
therefore, the only one used.
Another decisive factor is the angle between
the share and the soil under tillage (see fig. 3).
For the Hendriksmose ard the values are: c: 240
mm, b: 310 mm, a: 27°.9
Another distance to be considered when com-
paring the original and the replica is the height
of the front end of the beam above the bottom
of the furrow. On the Hendriksmose ard the
height of the point of draught is 108 mm, meas-
ured from the front end of the beam perpendic-
ularly to a line drawn through the lowest point
of the rear of the beam and the foremost point of
the ard head.
These measurements are important in asses-
sing the angle at which the share of the ard ori-
ginally met the ground. The curvature of the beams
of the original and replica ards is of less importance
in this connection (fig. 4). Two notches, of which
Fig. 2- The Hendriksmose ard seen from the left. The beam has evidently been split out of an oak-branch by
diametric splitting. Photo by O. Woldbye 1957 prior to conservation.
Der Hendriksmoser Hakenpflug vor links gesehen. Der Grindel wurde offenbar durch diametrische Spaltung
aus einem Eichenzweig herausgeschlagen. Aufnahme von O. Woldbye aus dem Jahr 1957, vor der Konservierung.
69
ture of the beam shows that it has been split out
of a curved branch. The first splitting surface is
most readily made down the centre of the branch,
and it is this surface that forms the left side of
the beam. This means that the mortise in the
beam has to be to the right of the heartwood.
Because the sap-wood or alburnum is softer, the
mortise in the beam will be weaker on the right
hand side, and this may be why the right side of
the beam mortise in the Hendriksmose ard is nar-
rower than the left (fig. 1, section z).
This difference may, of course, be the result of
continued use.
The dimensions of the mortise, very important
for making a copy of the ard, are: rear edge, 110-
114 mm high by 44-45 mm wide, front-edge 95-
99 mm high by 62 mm wide. The figures show
that the sides of the hole are lopsided.
Since the height of the stilt to the mortise is
66-44 mm, the thickness of the wooden bar-share
25 mm, and the total height of the stilt and fore-
share 91-99 mm, the play when the bar-share
and stilt are fitted in the mortise is no more than
8 mm at most. There is no room for an arrow-
shaped share and the existing bar-share was,
therefore, the only one used.
Another decisive factor is the angle between
the share and the soil under tillage (see fig. 3).
For the Hendriksmose ard the values are: c: 240
mm, b: 310 mm, a: 27°.9
Another distance to be considered when com-
paring the original and the replica is the height
of the front end of the beam above the bottom
of the furrow. On the Hendriksmose ard the
height of the point of draught is 108 mm, meas-
ured from the front end of the beam perpendic-
ularly to a line drawn through the lowest point
of the rear of the beam and the foremost point of
the ard head.
These measurements are important in asses-
sing the angle at which the share of the ard ori-
ginally met the ground. The curvature of the beams
of the original and replica ards is of less importance
in this connection (fig. 4). Two notches, of which
Fig. 2- The Hendriksmose ard seen from the left. The beam has evidently been split out of an oak-branch by
diametric splitting. Photo by O. Woldbye 1957 prior to conservation.
Der Hendriksmoser Hakenpflug vor links gesehen. Der Grindel wurde offenbar durch diametrische Spaltung
aus einem Eichenzweig herausgeschlagen. Aufnahme von O. Woldbye aus dem Jahr 1957, vor der Konservierung.