DOI article:
Lerche, Grith: The ploughs of medieval Denmark
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48998#0146
136
GRITH LERCHE
Fig. 8. The Tnmmerby plough. The point of the sole
is missing but the hole for the tang of the share is vis-
ible. Photo N. Elswing 1970.
Der Pflug von Tommerby. Die Spitze der Sohle fehlt,
aber das Loch fur den Zapfen der Schar ist sichtbar.
opinion (Glob 74, 122; Steensberg 1968 column
335).5 That the stilt of the Andbjerg plough could
have been a branch whose knee rested on the top
of the sole is unlikely, since there are no traces
of the vertical pins necessary for such a method
of attachment. The furrow-side of the plough is
plain, with no trace of a mouldboard, but there
has certainly been a mouldboard for wear
marks are found only on the underside and land-
side of the sole.
The radio-carbon date for the plough is 1520 ±
100 A.D. (Tools and Tillage 1968, 56). Since it
had prior preservative treatment, and because of
the fluctuation in radio-activity, it probably also
belongs to the fifteenth century.
The technique of half-checking timber instead
of using a tenon was common in building the
framework of half-timbered buildings in the
Middle Ages and early Renaissance period. But
all the wheel ploughs, mainly of nineteenth cen-
tury date, preserved in Danish Museums, have a
tenon joint between the sheath and the beam
(Michelsen 1959). This feature has significance for
interpreting the period of use of the Tommerby
and Andbjerg ploughs. As a rural building
custom, the half-checking technique remained in
use in the northern half of Zealand into the nine-
teenth century (Lerche 1966).
The Villerso Plough. A very fragmentary
plough part, made of beech, from Villerso in
Djursland, was already in the National Museum’s
collections in 1898. It corresponds exactly to the
Andbjerg plough. Only about 10 cm of the
sheath remains, and c. 40 cm of the sole. Pebbles
of flint and quartzite were inserted in the land-
side and under-side of the sole. Those still in
position are highly polished from extensive use.
A small lump of iron has been inserted in place
of one of the stones. Both the nose of the sole in
which there should have been a hole for the tang
of the share, and the rear-end, where the stilt
would be attached, are missing. This fragment
has not been dated (Steensberg 1936, 141-143;
Glob 75-76, 122).
All of these plough parts came from Jutland, but
a strictly comparable plough of oak, with sole
and sheath in one piece and a hole for the share
at the nose of the sole, is known from the National
Museum’s registers. It came from Saltrup in
North Zealand, reached the Museum in 1874,
and, unfortunately, has since disappeared. It was
probably more recent in date than the Middle
Ages (Steensberg 1968 column 337).
These fragments have many features in com-
mon. The dated specimens belong to approx-
imately the same period, and all are parts of
ploughs, probably wheel ploughs, and not of
ards. They all represent the same constructional
feature, a conjoint sheath and sole, made from the
GRITH LERCHE
Fig. 8. The Tnmmerby plough. The point of the sole
is missing but the hole for the tang of the share is vis-
ible. Photo N. Elswing 1970.
Der Pflug von Tommerby. Die Spitze der Sohle fehlt,
aber das Loch fur den Zapfen der Schar ist sichtbar.
opinion (Glob 74, 122; Steensberg 1968 column
335).5 That the stilt of the Andbjerg plough could
have been a branch whose knee rested on the top
of the sole is unlikely, since there are no traces
of the vertical pins necessary for such a method
of attachment. The furrow-side of the plough is
plain, with no trace of a mouldboard, but there
has certainly been a mouldboard for wear
marks are found only on the underside and land-
side of the sole.
The radio-carbon date for the plough is 1520 ±
100 A.D. (Tools and Tillage 1968, 56). Since it
had prior preservative treatment, and because of
the fluctuation in radio-activity, it probably also
belongs to the fifteenth century.
The technique of half-checking timber instead
of using a tenon was common in building the
framework of half-timbered buildings in the
Middle Ages and early Renaissance period. But
all the wheel ploughs, mainly of nineteenth cen-
tury date, preserved in Danish Museums, have a
tenon joint between the sheath and the beam
(Michelsen 1959). This feature has significance for
interpreting the period of use of the Tommerby
and Andbjerg ploughs. As a rural building
custom, the half-checking technique remained in
use in the northern half of Zealand into the nine-
teenth century (Lerche 1966).
The Villerso Plough. A very fragmentary
plough part, made of beech, from Villerso in
Djursland, was already in the National Museum’s
collections in 1898. It corresponds exactly to the
Andbjerg plough. Only about 10 cm of the
sheath remains, and c. 40 cm of the sole. Pebbles
of flint and quartzite were inserted in the land-
side and under-side of the sole. Those still in
position are highly polished from extensive use.
A small lump of iron has been inserted in place
of one of the stones. Both the nose of the sole in
which there should have been a hole for the tang
of the share, and the rear-end, where the stilt
would be attached, are missing. This fragment
has not been dated (Steensberg 1936, 141-143;
Glob 75-76, 122).
All of these plough parts came from Jutland, but
a strictly comparable plough of oak, with sole
and sheath in one piece and a hole for the share
at the nose of the sole, is known from the National
Museum’s registers. It came from Saltrup in
North Zealand, reached the Museum in 1874,
and, unfortunately, has since disappeared. It was
probably more recent in date than the Middle
Ages (Steensberg 1968 column 337).
These fragments have many features in com-
mon. The dated specimens belong to approx-
imately the same period, and all are parts of
ploughs, probably wheel ploughs, and not of
ards. They all represent the same constructional
feature, a conjoint sheath and sole, made from the