Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (552 page)

An implement used in breaking up ground for cultivation which comprises one or more blades that are drawn through the soil, together with attachments for guiding it and providing the motive power. Ploughs are usually drawn along by animal traction (mainly oxen or horses), although people are occasionally used. There are two basic kinds of plough. The
ard
or scratch plough is essentially a single blade like a hoe set at an angle of about 60 degrees to the ground with a guiding handle behind and a beam in front for connection to a yoke and a pair of animals. An ard simply stirs the soil rather than turning it over. For effective cultivation an ard ideally needs to be used in two opposite directions, creating what is known as cross-ploughing. The earliest ards date to the 5th millennium
bc
in the Near East, and were available in Europe by the middle of the 4th millennium. By contrast, the
mould-board plough
or heavy plough is wheeled and can be adjusted to control penetration into the ground. The shares comprise a cutting blade and a curved mould-board that physically inverts the soil profile. Such ploughs were not developed until the mid 1st millennium
ad
.

 
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The wooden or metal bar that connects the blades, shares, and their mountings to the yoke, which in turn is attached to the harnesses fitted to the draught animals that provide the power. The plough beam has to be strong enough to transmit the power from the traction through to the blades and share cutting through the ground, but long enough for the draught animals not to be snagged by the ploughing mechanism itself.

 
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Term applied to earthworks and upstanding archaeological structures that because of repeated ploughing have been reduced in height and spread, and had some or all of their archaeological integrity damaged or destroyed through the mixing and de-stratification of deposits.

 
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The area of ground that is subject to cultivation by ploughing.

 
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Grooves or scars cut into the subsoil underlying a cultivated soil profile by the downward penetration of the blade or shear of an ard or mould-board plough. Prehistoric plough marks have been recorded underneath long barrows and round barrows; plough marks from modern cultivation can often be seen cutting into the top of archaeological deposits.

 
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The part of a plough that goes into the ground to disturb or turn the soil. These often become detached from the main mechanism of the plough while working and are subsequently lost. For this reason many ploughsoils, both ancient and modern, contain within them broken or lost ploughshares as a tell-tale sign of past or ongoing agricultural practices.

 
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