DOI Artikel:
Editorial
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49002#0139
EDITORIAL
For this issue of Tools and Tillage, we have
five main contributors with varied back-
grounds of knowledge and experience. In
each case, there is some degree of concentra-
tion on the hard facts which alone can pro-
vide a firm basis for theory.
Inge Schjellerup concentrates specifically
on the ards she saw in use in Peru, in the
course of field research into cultivation ter-
races. Though these may be regarded as
strongly traditional implements, neverthe-
less the impact of the modern world can be
seen in some of the details, for example the
metalwork. So that these details can be seen
clearly and allowed to speak for themselves
we have reproduced her fine drawings of the
ards and of their yokes. It is seldom that
field researchers take the trouble to record
material in such detail, yet only in this way
can a record be made that is truly scientific.
P. Michelsen’s contribution on irrigation
is not so much a matter of detailed field re-
search as of intelligent observation given
depth through published data. The subject is
a humble one, but it has great importance
and it is as well to be aware of irrigation
needs even in areas where these are quite un-
expected. Local people know what microcli-
mates are, and must respond to the effects of
these and of their geographical environment
in order to maximise production even of
grass. We hope that the author will put these
observations into a wider context in a future
issue.
J. Langdon provides an interesting study
of an aspect of ox-draught that gives rise to
general questions. We need to know much
more about how common oxen were as
draught animals in medieval times, what
their potential was in different contexts
(transport, ploughing), what alternatives
there were, and what the nature of the socio-
economic systems was within which they
worked. We still have a lot of work to do to
take the darkness out of the ’Dark Ages', not
only at the level of decorative art but also in
relation to the small details of everyday liv-
ing that the great majority of the population
were familiar with, and which in reality
dictated their attitudes.
Bela Gunda opens up a new line of study
for this Journal, that of botany. He has
examined some remarkable traditional prac-
tices, and makes us question our concepts of
’weed', ’garden-plant' and ’fodder plant'. A
weed to us may have been a valuable source
of fodder to farmers of yesteryear, or a
source of medicine used by those who had
best learned the secrets of nature. We must
look at the past without the veil of present-
day preconceptions, if we are to understand
earlier times more clearly.
Grith Lerche’s study of ridged fields and
furrow profiles is the most scientifically con-
trolled ploughing experiment that has yet
been undertaken. It is a report on part of a
long-term, patient experiment, in which the
dynamics of plough ridges have been fully
examined, through experimental reproduc-
tion, for the first time. With energy and de-
termination, she has pushed through this
massive project to a level that will allow a
fundamental re-appraisal of several aspects
of plough studies, including the more precise
interpretation of plough and ard marks in
archaeological excavations.
Geleitwort p. 195
For this issue of Tools and Tillage, we have
five main contributors with varied back-
grounds of knowledge and experience. In
each case, there is some degree of concentra-
tion on the hard facts which alone can pro-
vide a firm basis for theory.
Inge Schjellerup concentrates specifically
on the ards she saw in use in Peru, in the
course of field research into cultivation ter-
races. Though these may be regarded as
strongly traditional implements, neverthe-
less the impact of the modern world can be
seen in some of the details, for example the
metalwork. So that these details can be seen
clearly and allowed to speak for themselves
we have reproduced her fine drawings of the
ards and of their yokes. It is seldom that
field researchers take the trouble to record
material in such detail, yet only in this way
can a record be made that is truly scientific.
P. Michelsen’s contribution on irrigation
is not so much a matter of detailed field re-
search as of intelligent observation given
depth through published data. The subject is
a humble one, but it has great importance
and it is as well to be aware of irrigation
needs even in areas where these are quite un-
expected. Local people know what microcli-
mates are, and must respond to the effects of
these and of their geographical environment
in order to maximise production even of
grass. We hope that the author will put these
observations into a wider context in a future
issue.
J. Langdon provides an interesting study
of an aspect of ox-draught that gives rise to
general questions. We need to know much
more about how common oxen were as
draught animals in medieval times, what
their potential was in different contexts
(transport, ploughing), what alternatives
there were, and what the nature of the socio-
economic systems was within which they
worked. We still have a lot of work to do to
take the darkness out of the ’Dark Ages', not
only at the level of decorative art but also in
relation to the small details of everyday liv-
ing that the great majority of the population
were familiar with, and which in reality
dictated their attitudes.
Bela Gunda opens up a new line of study
for this Journal, that of botany. He has
examined some remarkable traditional prac-
tices, and makes us question our concepts of
’weed', ’garden-plant' and ’fodder plant'. A
weed to us may have been a valuable source
of fodder to farmers of yesteryear, or a
source of medicine used by those who had
best learned the secrets of nature. We must
look at the past without the veil of present-
day preconceptions, if we are to understand
earlier times more clearly.
Grith Lerche’s study of ridged fields and
furrow profiles is the most scientifically con-
trolled ploughing experiment that has yet
been undertaken. It is a report on part of a
long-term, patient experiment, in which the
dynamics of plough ridges have been fully
examined, through experimental reproduc-
tion, for the first time. With energy and de-
termination, she has pushed through this
massive project to a level that will allow a
fundamental re-appraisal of several aspects
of plough studies, including the more precise
interpretation of plough and ard marks in
archaeological excavations.
Geleitwort p. 195