07-27-2009, 03:39 PM
Don't know about donkeys or mules, but yes most plowing was done by oxen.
Horses drew carts. In fact, the models of "Celtic chariots" often found among really old burial treasures look like four-whelled carts, rather than the two-wheeled Egyptian/Persian/Roman chariots we're used to. Later Celts used two-wheeled chariots, too, though I don't know whether they developed them independently or copied others.
I suspect few sub-Roman common people owned horses. Too expensive to maintain, especially for a largely subsistence culture. In fact, few probably owned teams of oxen. He who did porbably rented them out (for a portion of the crop, since few folks had money), and/or mostly the rich and powerful owed oxen and horses...helping them become richer and more powerful. The Medieval model (pyramidal structure of fealty and service) partly emerged because no one could afford to maintain large armies of expensively equipped and trained warriors.
Horses drew carts. In fact, the models of "Celtic chariots" often found among really old burial treasures look like four-whelled carts, rather than the two-wheeled Egyptian/Persian/Roman chariots we're used to. Later Celts used two-wheeled chariots, too, though I don't know whether they developed them independently or copied others.
I suspect few sub-Roman common people owned horses. Too expensive to maintain, especially for a largely subsistence culture. In fact, few probably owned teams of oxen. He who did porbably rented them out (for a portion of the crop, since few folks had money), and/or mostly the rich and powerful owed oxen and horses...helping them become richer and more powerful. The Medieval model (pyramidal structure of fealty and service) partly emerged because no one could afford to maintain large armies of expensively equipped and trained warriors.
"Fugit irreparabile tempus" (Irrecoverable time glides away) Virgil
Ron Andrea
Ron Andrea
