DOI Artikel:
Lerche, Grith: The ploughs of medieval Denmark
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48998#0141
THE PLOUGHS OF MEDIEVAL DENMARK
Grith Lerche
A great many finds of ard and plough parts have
now been made in Denmark. These include a
small group of plough parts made from bifurcated
branches, or parts of branches, with inset pebbles.
It has been shown that these are the soles and
sheaths of wheel ploughs, and it is the purpose
of this article to discuss this group and to bring
together the related evidence that throws light on
the wheel plough in medieval Denmark.
WOODEN PARTS
The Linaa Plough. In 1962, a part of a plough
was brought to the Silkeborg Museum. It was
found during draining operations three years
before, at a depth of c. 120 cm in a meadow
north of Linaa in Linaa parish, in the Gjern
district, county of Randers, Jutland.1 A pupil at
Resenbro school brought it to the teacher, after
the class had written an exercise on early ploughs.
The Linaa plough part is a bifurcated branch
of oak, one fork acting as the sheath, the other as
the sole. The latter is broken just behind the
sheath, and a 2 cm wide piece of the front edge
of the sheath is missing from a point starting at
the peg-hole in the sheath, and running upwards.
The blunt front end of the sole against which the
share was held, contains an upward sloping,
round hole into which the tang of the share was
inserted (fig. 1).
Since the sole is broken, it is not known how
the stilt was attached. Of the original number of
holes bored in the left, or land-side, into which
pebbles were inserted, only five remain, each 2,5
Fig. 1. The Linaa plough. A the land-side, B front view, C the furrow-side. Measurements in scale 1:1 by G. L.
Der Pflug von Linaa. A Landseite, B Vorderansicht, C Furchenseite. Vermessung von G.L. im Massstab 1:1.
Grith Lerche
A great many finds of ard and plough parts have
now been made in Denmark. These include a
small group of plough parts made from bifurcated
branches, or parts of branches, with inset pebbles.
It has been shown that these are the soles and
sheaths of wheel ploughs, and it is the purpose
of this article to discuss this group and to bring
together the related evidence that throws light on
the wheel plough in medieval Denmark.
WOODEN PARTS
The Linaa Plough. In 1962, a part of a plough
was brought to the Silkeborg Museum. It was
found during draining operations three years
before, at a depth of c. 120 cm in a meadow
north of Linaa in Linaa parish, in the Gjern
district, county of Randers, Jutland.1 A pupil at
Resenbro school brought it to the teacher, after
the class had written an exercise on early ploughs.
The Linaa plough part is a bifurcated branch
of oak, one fork acting as the sheath, the other as
the sole. The latter is broken just behind the
sheath, and a 2 cm wide piece of the front edge
of the sheath is missing from a point starting at
the peg-hole in the sheath, and running upwards.
The blunt front end of the sole against which the
share was held, contains an upward sloping,
round hole into which the tang of the share was
inserted (fig. 1).
Since the sole is broken, it is not known how
the stilt was attached. Of the original number of
holes bored in the left, or land-side, into which
pebbles were inserted, only five remain, each 2,5
Fig. 1. The Linaa plough. A the land-side, B front view, C the furrow-side. Measurements in scale 1:1 by G. L.
Der Pflug von Linaa. A Landseite, B Vorderansicht, C Furchenseite. Vermessung von G.L. im Massstab 1:1.