DOI Artikel:
Editorial
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48999#0139
EDITORIAL
At the same time as this seventh issue of Tools
and Tillage appears, the International Secre-
tariat for Research on the History of Agricul-
tural Implements reaches its twentieth year,
and Professor Paul Leser, one of the Secre-
tariat’s founders, reaches his 75th birthday. Co-
pies of his fundamental work, Entstehung und
Verbreitung des Pfluges, are still available from
the Secretariat.
The Journal, now well established, has be-
come a concrete expression of a primary func-
tion of the Secretariat - that of bringing to-
gether basic research material of a wide variety
of types from a wide variety of areas. It is a
matter of pleasure to i eport that one of the
editors, Grith Lerche, has received a prize and
the silver medal of the Royal Danish Academy
of Siences and Letters for her good work in
this field.
The present number continues to range wide-
ly in time and space, but always with an eye
to the possibility of intensifying and deepening
research through the provision of comparative
data. The evolution of the Scottish cas-chrom
may well have something to say about the
evolution of parallel implements elsewhere, and
vice versa. The iron plough - or ard-parts from
European finds have to be looked at critically
in the light of the growing body of data that is
becoming available from Asia and the Middle
East, whether through archaeological activities,
or through translations or studies of agricul-
tural sources hitherto little known in the West,
or through personal observation of current cul-
tivating implements, such as the Oman ard.
Hoes and spades, ards and ploughs, need to be
looked at not as exclusive research categories,
but as types of equipment which interact with
and complement each other, reflecting not only
particular conditions of climate and terrain, but
also social and economic situations. It need not
be a retrograde step to replace the plough by
the spade. The use of the spade or hoe instead
of the plough need not be a sign of a primitive
economy. We are dealing with complicated and
sophisticated systems, where the application of
an over-simplified model may lead to the over-
looking of important factors. If the historian’s
chief end is the study of mankind, then the
kind of concrete data with which this Journal
is concerned can give a particularly intimate
glimpse of some of the basic causes underlying
the processes of history.
In this issue, all the contributions have a
bearing on primary forms of cultivation. In
the future, however, we shall also seek to
carry the story further, through the harvesting
of crops to their processing for food. Relevant
material would be welcomed.
At the same time as this seventh issue of Tools
and Tillage appears, the International Secre-
tariat for Research on the History of Agricul-
tural Implements reaches its twentieth year,
and Professor Paul Leser, one of the Secre-
tariat’s founders, reaches his 75th birthday. Co-
pies of his fundamental work, Entstehung und
Verbreitung des Pfluges, are still available from
the Secretariat.
The Journal, now well established, has be-
come a concrete expression of a primary func-
tion of the Secretariat - that of bringing to-
gether basic research material of a wide variety
of types from a wide variety of areas. It is a
matter of pleasure to i eport that one of the
editors, Grith Lerche, has received a prize and
the silver medal of the Royal Danish Academy
of Siences and Letters for her good work in
this field.
The present number continues to range wide-
ly in time and space, but always with an eye
to the possibility of intensifying and deepening
research through the provision of comparative
data. The evolution of the Scottish cas-chrom
may well have something to say about the
evolution of parallel implements elsewhere, and
vice versa. The iron plough - or ard-parts from
European finds have to be looked at critically
in the light of the growing body of data that is
becoming available from Asia and the Middle
East, whether through archaeological activities,
or through translations or studies of agricul-
tural sources hitherto little known in the West,
or through personal observation of current cul-
tivating implements, such as the Oman ard.
Hoes and spades, ards and ploughs, need to be
looked at not as exclusive research categories,
but as types of equipment which interact with
and complement each other, reflecting not only
particular conditions of climate and terrain, but
also social and economic situations. It need not
be a retrograde step to replace the plough by
the spade. The use of the spade or hoe instead
of the plough need not be a sign of a primitive
economy. We are dealing with complicated and
sophisticated systems, where the application of
an over-simplified model may lead to the over-
looking of important factors. If the historian’s
chief end is the study of mankind, then the
kind of concrete data with which this Journal
is concerned can give a particularly intimate
glimpse of some of the basic causes underlying
the processes of history.
In this issue, all the contributions have a
bearing on primary forms of cultivation. In
the future, however, we shall also seek to
carry the story further, through the harvesting
of crops to their processing for food. Relevant
material would be welcomed.