The Spread of the Mouldboard Plough: Draught Cattle and Disturbed Ground

Abstract The mouldboard plough is traditionally regarded as a key part of a technological package that boosted agricultural productivity north of the Alps. Chapter 5 reviews the evidence for the transition from ard to plough and considers when it changed from being a high-status implement used at a few elite sites to an essential piece of equipment for farmers wishing to implement an extensive cultivation regime. A study of cattle bones allows the changing emphasis on traction over time and regionally to be traced. The results, combined with an ecological study of arable weeds to gauge soil disturbance (reflecting the type and frequency of tillage), indicate that use of the plough increased from the eighth century, with a majority of settlements displaying a distinctive ‘draught cattle signature’ by the tenth and eleventh centuries.