DOI Artikel:
Sordinas, Augustus: The Ropas plow from the island of Corfu, Greece
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49000#0149
THE ROPAS PLOW
FROM THE ISLAND OF CORFU, GREECE
By
Augustus Sardinas
The present study is an ethnographic descrip-
tion of the Ropas plow on the island of Corfu,
Greece, obtained from its owner and other in-
formants from the Ropas Valley or adjoining
areas, and the aims are to look at the plow
within the traditional social context.
Oral reports indicated the existence of a
wooden plow which functioned sporadically
until the end of World War II in the alluvial
strips of land along the northern and southern
shores of the island but mainly in the only
“valley” of some size on the island known as
the Ropas Valley (fig. 1).
Ethnographic studies of Greek plows are
rare - although considerable information can
be found in general works or detailed litera-
ture dealing with Balkan plows north of
Macedonia (e.g. Bratanic 1939, 1952; Leser
1931 a, b). Descriptive and functional terms
vary considerably from district to district in
Greece. For this purpose a “technological
model” was employed.1
The agricultural implement was examined
within the “larger social pattern(s)” which
seem to have determined its function, form,
and evolution (or regression). Such determi-
nants did not act in a vacuum. The physical
factors (e.g. kinds of wood) as well as other
environmental factors (e.g. soils) played their
part.
The operation or “function” of the imple-
ment must be understood if its “existence” is
expected to shed light beyond the level of
. . . . 2
naive antiquanamsm.
Much remains still to be done, for example
the economic setting, hours of plow opera-
tion, sexual division of labor, traction ani-
mals, size and ownership of fields, crop
yields, seasonal work habits, the ritual
preparation of the animals, the seeds or the
fields, the possible association of saints with
the plow, etc.
The geographic setting
The island of Corfu is the northernmost island
of the Ionian Sea, west of the Greek mainland.
It is situated at the very entrance to the Adria-
tic Sea at 39° 20’ - 39° 50’ N and 19° 37’ - 20° 7’
E. The island has always been strategic in
regard to culture contact between adjoining
but largely dissimilar culture areas. It is 62 km
long. In the north it attains a maximum width
of 30 km while at the center it is only 8-10 km
wide gradually becoming narrower toward its
stretch to the south. The total surface is 611
square kilometers. The population (1961
census) is 99.092 of which 71% are peasants
living in 200 villages or hamlets scattered all
over the island (fig. 1).
The soils. Geologically the island forms
part of the mountainous Adriatico-Ionian
zone (Pindus range). The northern parts of
the island consist of heavily weathered
Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones covered in
places by Eocene marls (Fliesch). The soils are
terra rossa with a great amount of colluvial de-
bris making cultivation difficult (see below).
In the central area of the island the Cretaceous
FROM THE ISLAND OF CORFU, GREECE
By
Augustus Sardinas
The present study is an ethnographic descrip-
tion of the Ropas plow on the island of Corfu,
Greece, obtained from its owner and other in-
formants from the Ropas Valley or adjoining
areas, and the aims are to look at the plow
within the traditional social context.
Oral reports indicated the existence of a
wooden plow which functioned sporadically
until the end of World War II in the alluvial
strips of land along the northern and southern
shores of the island but mainly in the only
“valley” of some size on the island known as
the Ropas Valley (fig. 1).
Ethnographic studies of Greek plows are
rare - although considerable information can
be found in general works or detailed litera-
ture dealing with Balkan plows north of
Macedonia (e.g. Bratanic 1939, 1952; Leser
1931 a, b). Descriptive and functional terms
vary considerably from district to district in
Greece. For this purpose a “technological
model” was employed.1
The agricultural implement was examined
within the “larger social pattern(s)” which
seem to have determined its function, form,
and evolution (or regression). Such determi-
nants did not act in a vacuum. The physical
factors (e.g. kinds of wood) as well as other
environmental factors (e.g. soils) played their
part.
The operation or “function” of the imple-
ment must be understood if its “existence” is
expected to shed light beyond the level of
. . . . 2
naive antiquanamsm.
Much remains still to be done, for example
the economic setting, hours of plow opera-
tion, sexual division of labor, traction ani-
mals, size and ownership of fields, crop
yields, seasonal work habits, the ritual
preparation of the animals, the seeds or the
fields, the possible association of saints with
the plow, etc.
The geographic setting
The island of Corfu is the northernmost island
of the Ionian Sea, west of the Greek mainland.
It is situated at the very entrance to the Adria-
tic Sea at 39° 20’ - 39° 50’ N and 19° 37’ - 20° 7’
E. The island has always been strategic in
regard to culture contact between adjoining
but largely dissimilar culture areas. It is 62 km
long. In the north it attains a maximum width
of 30 km while at the center it is only 8-10 km
wide gradually becoming narrower toward its
stretch to the south. The total surface is 611
square kilometers. The population (1961
census) is 99.092 of which 71% are peasants
living in 200 villages or hamlets scattered all
over the island (fig. 1).
The soils. Geologically the island forms
part of the mountainous Adriatico-Ionian
zone (Pindus range). The northern parts of
the island consist of heavily weathered
Jurassic and Cretaceous limestones covered in
places by Eocene marls (Fliesch). The soils are
terra rossa with a great amount of colluvial de-
bris making cultivation difficult (see below).
In the central area of the island the Cretaceous