The invention of the ox-drawn plough was a turning point in the #prehistory of #agriculture because it was the first time food production was decoupled from human labour (doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2019.105).

This is why, from Medieval Europe to the ancient Near East, farms were measured by the number of oxen (later horses etc.) working it, not people (doi.org/10.1002/9781118970959.…)

Yet it's surprisingly difficult to pinpoint when this actually happened.

#Archaeology #History #Economics #EconomicHistory