Tools & tillage: a journal on the history of the implements of cultivation and other agricultural processes (7.1992/1995)

YOKES FOR THREE COWS

19

bria? Carcfa-Lomas calls it “brave cow
yoke”, yugo de la vaca brava, and he regards
it not only as a taming device but also as a
yoke to take unbroken cattle to markets
(hence the name of yuguetas given by Gon-
zalez Echegaray). The drawing which ap-
peared in Garcia-Lomas (Fig. 17) is not very
precise.
Yokes of this type also appear in La Rioja.
In Pajares where only one or two have been
found, their function was exclusively that of
breaking in animals (Aldeas 1991, 56).24


Fig. 18. Yoke from the Museo Provincial de Teruel
(Spain). Photograph: Maria Elisa Sanchez Sanz. □
Joch aus dem Provinzialmuseum Teruel (Spanien).
Foto: Maria Elisa Sanchez Sanz.

For the whole province it has only been
possible to obtain a few examples though in-
formation regarding function and origin
within the province was missing. The piece
represented (Fig. 18) is at the Museo Provin-
cial de Teruel.
Its presence is also likely in Andalucia as it
has been reported by A. Limon for Cazalla de
la Sierra (Sevilla) where a local informed him
of its use but without specifying the exact ar-
ea.
Information for the remaining part of the
country is negative. The yokes are unknown
in Galicia, Cataluna and Pais Valenciano.25 In
Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia,

Pais Vasco, Navarra, Baleares and Canarias
information is available.
Further away, in Portugal they have not
been traced (Veiga de Oliveira, Galhano and
Pereira 19 73).26 In France (Fig. 19), however
two references to this type of yoke have been
found both of them being pieces used for
working. C.Jest (1959, 242, note 44) men-
tions them: “Cans (sic) Le Lot il existe des
yougs pour trois boeufs, utilises pour les la-
bours.” Again, Brunhes Delamarre (1985,
129, Fig. 8) does not give much information
apart from indicating their use to yoke three
animals.27 Her picture of a yoke with two
rings which could possibly be used for pull-
ing does not offer on its own any information
on whether it was used during or after break-
ing in the animal (Fig. 20).
This information greatly improves that re-
covered from the area of Madrid, but some
obscure points still remain such as those re-
garding the way of balancing the difference in
the draught power of the animals. Neihter is
the incidence of the triple yoke clear in com-
parison to other types in the French area
though it does not seem to have been very
important. It should be stressed that perhaps
its use had declined to such an extent that it
was not even recorded in the second half of
this century (Brunhes Delamarre does not
mention it in her 1969 work).
Yokes for three cows in historic sources
The lack of precise information on this type
of yoke makes it necessary to look into his-
torical data. The Latin, Andalousian and
Spanish agronomic texts from the 16th and
17th centuries extend the information avail-
able on this implement.
Of the Latin authors only Columella men-
tions it. He is also the one author amongst the
Roman agrarian writers who shows the great-
est interest in the taming of cattle. In his
Book VI, chapter 2 devoted to the different