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Question 58

The heavy, wet soils of northern Europe were hard to work. What did villages there plough them with, and how was it usually managed?

  1. A light scratch plough pulled by one ox owned by each household
  2. A heavy wheeled plough pulled by an ox team, often shared among several householdsCorrect answer
  3. A heavy wheeled plough pulled by a single horse that each household owned outright
  4. Hand digging with spades, since no plough could work such ground at all

Explanation

Turning heavy clay needed a plough strong enough to cut, lift and turn the sod, and pulling it took more beasts than one family was likely to own, so households pooled their animals to make up a team between them. The light plough is the wrong tool to reach for, because it worked well on the thin dry soils further south, but it merely scratched a furrow and could not break northern clay.

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Question 58: The heavy, wet soils of northern Europe were hard to work.… · Medieval Europe · Questena