DOI article:
Steensberg, Axel: A 6000 year old ploughing implement from Satrup Moor
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48999#0114
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AX. STEENSBERG
Fig. 5. The blade of the short handled “spade” from Satrup Moor; front side and rear side.
Die Vorder- und Riickseite des Blattes des kurzen Gerats aus dem Moor von Satrup. Foto N. Elswing.
afterwards its profile was cut in the shape of a
double cone with a flint borer pointed at one
end and furnished with sharp edges, the traces
of which are visible in fig. 6. Perforations of
a double conical shape would offer a better
couch for the knots of the straps, by which the
implement was pulled forward, with less wear
on the front edges of the holes.
The positioning of the hole to the right had
been decided before the manufacturing started.
The maker of the tool calculated to avoid the
slow procedure of drilling, and instead he shaped
the implement to take advantage of a natural
knot of the wood which could be pressed out.
The other hole was made a proper distance
from it. This is probably the reason why the
shaft of this implement is not made exactly
from the heart wood of the ash-trunk, the
middle of the wood being 2 cm to the left of
the middle of the shaft, and if this had not been
intentionally planned, the knot-hole would have
been placed in the same line as the shaft.
On fig. 6 are clearly observed some scratches
made by the flint knife by which the manu-
facturer smoothed the surface. They run in two
directions almost at right angles to each other
and both obliquely to the grain of the wood.
Some small damage or incisions on the edge of
the flint knife have produced this striation vi-
sible on the upper right half of the surface and
on the lower right half parallel to the edge. A
similar striation is observed to the left on the
rear side of the blade, fig. 6, also parallel to
the edge, but this is not so clearly visible on the
reproduction. These marks prove that the blade
had not been much worn by use before it was
broken from the shaft and thrown away. The
two parts were found at a little distance from
each other. The shaft was broken into four
pieces while situated in the bog, probably
because of an unequal settling of the layers. On
fig. 6 is observed a slight incision in the rear
side of the shaft near the blade, due to damage
either in prehistoric or in modern times. An-
other unintentional incision is seen c. 25 cm
higher on the rear side.
AX. STEENSBERG
Fig. 5. The blade of the short handled “spade” from Satrup Moor; front side and rear side.
Die Vorder- und Riickseite des Blattes des kurzen Gerats aus dem Moor von Satrup. Foto N. Elswing.
afterwards its profile was cut in the shape of a
double cone with a flint borer pointed at one
end and furnished with sharp edges, the traces
of which are visible in fig. 6. Perforations of
a double conical shape would offer a better
couch for the knots of the straps, by which the
implement was pulled forward, with less wear
on the front edges of the holes.
The positioning of the hole to the right had
been decided before the manufacturing started.
The maker of the tool calculated to avoid the
slow procedure of drilling, and instead he shaped
the implement to take advantage of a natural
knot of the wood which could be pressed out.
The other hole was made a proper distance
from it. This is probably the reason why the
shaft of this implement is not made exactly
from the heart wood of the ash-trunk, the
middle of the wood being 2 cm to the left of
the middle of the shaft, and if this had not been
intentionally planned, the knot-hole would have
been placed in the same line as the shaft.
On fig. 6 are clearly observed some scratches
made by the flint knife by which the manu-
facturer smoothed the surface. They run in two
directions almost at right angles to each other
and both obliquely to the grain of the wood.
Some small damage or incisions on the edge of
the flint knife have produced this striation vi-
sible on the upper right half of the surface and
on the lower right half parallel to the edge. A
similar striation is observed to the left on the
rear side of the blade, fig. 6, also parallel to
the edge, but this is not so clearly visible on the
reproduction. These marks prove that the blade
had not been much worn by use before it was
broken from the shaft and thrown away. The
two parts were found at a little distance from
each other. The shaft was broken into four
pieces while situated in the bog, probably
because of an unequal settling of the layers. On
fig. 6 is observed a slight incision in the rear
side of the shaft near the blade, due to damage
either in prehistoric or in modern times. An-
other unintentional incision is seen c. 25 cm
higher on the rear side.