New evidence for prehistoric ploughing in Europe

Abstract

For the past four decades, the ‘Secondary Products Revolution’ model, i.e., the exploitation of animal resources that do not involve killing the animal, such as the production of milk and wool and the use of animals for physical labour has been the object of heated discussion between Neolithic scholars. According to this model, the use of animal strength arrived relatively late in Europe—during the socio-economic changes of the Late Neolithic in the 4th millennium BCE. Plough marks are the most convincing direct evidence of the use of animal traction. However, few are preserved making them relatively rare throughout Europe and dating them is difficult and often imprecise. Recent research at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Valais, Switzerland has revealed the presence of the oldest known plough marks in Europe, dating from the beginning of the 5th millennium BCE. They bear witness to the use of animal traction quite soon after the establishment of an agro-pastoral economy in the Alpine region. This is corroborated by recent archaeozoological studies and suggests that this important innovation could already be part of the Neolithic package introduced into Europe during the 6th millennium BCE.