Draught Animals | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Stonehenge and its Environs 134

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The bluestone debate

fitzcoraldo Nov 18, 2008 19:19:34

Replying to Steve Gray

True nuff Steve,
Lovely Plumpton Rocks is often cited as the source but once again are we looking at soley the work of man or perhaps someone putting the post-glacial bounty of big old stones to good use?

Personally I believe that mankind is obsessive enough to perform such a feat as dragging some bloody big stones across the landscape, the task may have taken generations, who knows? Were they in a particular hurry? I also believe that mankind is also canny enough to utilise what he has around him to great effect and also recognise that rocks that are not native to his burgh may have some significance - as we see in some Cumbrian rings.

So what I'm saying is I don't know too much about owt but I'd fall onto the side of glaciation with a little help by man to overcome the final couple of hurdles.

So what about using draught animals?
Why do they never figure in the equation? Is there any evidence for or against the existance and use of draught animals in the late Neolithic /EBA?

tonyh Nov 18, 2008 19:33:17

Replying to fitzcoraldo

fitzcoraldo wrote:

So what I'm saying is I don't know too much about owt but I'd fall onto the side of glaciation with a little help by man to overcome the final couple of hurdles.

So what about using draught animals?
Why do they never figure in the equation? Is there any evidence for or against the existance and use of draught animals in the late Neolithic /EBA?

Agreed..

They could be part of the equation..

But..

The ground that needs to be covered may very well not suite them

Tony

Stoneshifter Nov 18, 2008 19:57:31

Replying to fitzcoraldo

On the subject of draught animals - please take a look at my second to last picture listed under Winter Hill. It shows a round barrow, I guess, on the flanks of Winter Hill, which I've named Horrocks Moor barrow - for obvious reasons ... The longhorn cattle in that picture are notoriously docile. It was surprising just how placid they were - there'd be no difficulty harnessing one of those. Probably the ancient cattle were larger than these specimens as they were closer to the ancestral Auroch. And they eat almost anything - unlike Friesians, for instance, which have a great - and totally out of the blue - front kick.

Steve Gray Nov 18, 2008 21:20:13

Replying to fitzcoraldo

fitzcoraldo wrote:

So what about using draught animals?
Why do they never figure in the equation? Is there any evidence for or against the existance and use of draught animals in the late Neolithic /EBA?

They've generally been discounted on the basis that someone said large teams of oxen are notoriously difficult to control. However, pairs of oxen were often used for ploughing.

So what if 50 farmers turned up each with his own pair of oxen and a long rope? Each pair would be supervised by their owner and separated by enough space to avoid problems.