18 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Europe’s Oldest Plough Marks Discovered in Switzerland and Testifying the Use of Animals in Agriculture 7000 Years Ago

Excavations at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Switzerland, researchers revealed evidence that Neolithic farmers used animal traction to pull plows between 5,100 and 4,700 years ago. This discovery is nearly a millennium older than the previous oldest known plow marks.

The Anciens Arsenaux site is located in Sion (Canton of Valais, Switzerland), on the alluvial cone of the Sionne, an Alpine torrent that runs through the town and into the Rhône. Excavating the 800-square-meter site for the Valais Cantonal Archives in 2017 revealed alternating human occupation levels and ten-meter-thick alluvial deposits.

Researchers have revealed that settlement levels span much of the Neolithic period, covering approximately between 5200 and 3500 BCE, in their documentation studies.

The presence of these alluvial deposits was undoubtedly the most important factor that made the discovery possible. Because ancient plow marks are easily erased by erosion or subsequent agriculture, their discovery is extremely rare. The only reason the furrows in Sion survived is because the surrounding stream’s sediments swiftly covered them, preserving the impressions of the furrows in the soil layers.

The strongest evidence of animals pulling plow-like tools in European agriculture before this discovery came from sites in northern Germany and Denmark that date back approximately 3,700 years.

Map showing the location of the Anciens Arsenaux site (Sion, canton of Valais, Switzerland; yellow dot) and European sites with traces of tillage before 2000 cal BC (red dots). Credit: S. van Willigen et al. / Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Map showing the location of the Anciens Arsenaux site (Sion, canton of Valais, Switzerland; yellow dot) and European sites with traces of tillage before 2000 cal BC (red dots). Credit: S. van Willigen et al. / Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

The Sion site contains parallel furrows and impressions in the ground consistent with being made by a plow dragged through the soil, as well as hoofprints indicating that the pulling force came from domesticated cattle or oxen.

In the past, there has been evidence from animal bones that people in areas like Anatolia and the Balkans have occasionally used cattle or oxen for traction since the seventh millennium BCE. On the other hand, this is the first concrete proof of widespread plow agriculture found in prehistoric archaeology.

Researchers were able to conclusively date these pieces of evidence to the early Neolithic period by conducting detailed radiocarbon dating on organic materials found above and below these soil disturbances.

These new findings show that animal traction in agriculture appeared very early after agriculture itself emerged in the alpine region of Europe, explain the researchers. It wasn’t a later adaptation but likely an integral part of the early processes of continent-wide neolithization.

Compared to agriculture which relies only on human labor and hand tools, using animal power to pull plows represents a significant technological innovation that increases agricultural productivity and surplus and enables the cultivation of much larger areas. In many early agricultural societies, economic stratification and social complexity are thought to have been fueled by this excess production.

The plough marks of groups 364, 65, 500, and 499 from the Anciens Arsenaux excavations. Credit: ARIA SA / S. van Willigen et al. / Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
The plough marks of groups 364, 65, 500, and 499 from the Anciens Arsenaux excavations. Credit: ARIA SA / S. van Willigen et al. / Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

The dating of the plow marks in Sion suggests that we need to reevaluate long-standing theories about the pace of agricultural intensification and its impact on society during the expansion of agriculture across Neolithic Europe, the authors of the study said.

The ability to work larger fields with animal traction may have emerged from the outset rather than being a later revolutionary development.

Researchers note that the site’s location in a significant alpine valley may have been an ideal environment to quickly adopt and preserve evidence of plow use. Any early analog traces across the vast European plains where Neolithic agriculture first settled may have been erased by increasing erosion and intense agricultural development that followed.

Therefore, the archaeological team intends to conduct additional excavations in similar alpine environments throughout Switzerland and Italy to continue investigating the origins of animal traction in agriculture.

The research was published in Nature.

doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02837-5

Cover Photo: ARIA SA / s. van Willigen et al. / Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

Related Articles

Advanced imaging techniques reveal secrets of sealed ancient Egyptian animal coffins

21 April 2023

21 April 2023

Researchers from the British Museum have gained valuable insight into the contents of six sealed ancient Egyptian animal coffins using...

The 1,000-year-old Church found under a cornfield in Germany

2 July 2021

2 July 2021

The foundation walls of the large church of the rediscovered Royal Palace of Helfta in Eisleben in the German state...

A 3,600-Year-Old Bronze Minoan Dagger Discovered in Antalya Underwater Excavation

29 August 2024

29 August 2024

A bronze dagger with silver rivets that dates to the Minoan civilization approximately 3,600 years ago was discovered during an...

Ancient City Cistern Found Near Croatia’s Iconic Fountain

15 February 2024

15 February 2024

An island-speckled coastline and ancient walled towns place Croatia among the world’s best-beauty cities. But there’s even more to this...

Ancient tombs discovered at Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral

15 March 2022

15 March 2022

Archaeologists discovered several graves and a leaden sarcophagus possibly dating from the 14th century at Paris’ Notre Dame church, France’s...

Large Roman Complex found in Swiss Gravel Quarry

30 August 2023

30 August 2023

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of walls of a Roman building complex built nearly 2,000 years ago in the Äbnetwald...

Sorcery in Australian Cloggs Cave may be World’s Oldest Known Culturally Transmitted Ritual

1 July 2024

1 July 2024

Two sticks found in a cave in Australia show signs of processing that perfectly match Aboriginal sorcery and curse-making practices...

Unique tombs wrapped in high-quality fabrics and painted bodies were discovered at monumental temple in Peru

11 March 2023

11 March 2023

Unique tombs wrapped in high-quality fabrics and painted bodies were discovered at the monumental temple in Peru. Located on the...

Ancient Funerary Stones Looted from Yemen Will Be Exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum

14 September 2023

14 September 2023

The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) has signed a historic agreement with the Yemeni government to temporarily keep and display...

An intact Punic Tomb was Discovered in Malta

29 May 2021

29 May 2021

İntact a tomb dating to the Punic period was found in Tarxien. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage has announced the...

Unique 2,000-year-old Decorated Roman Sandal Discovered in Spain

20 October 2023

20 October 2023 1

A 2,000-year-old Roman sandal was discovered during archaeological excavations at Lucus Asturum (modern-day Lugo de Llanera) in Asturias, northern Spain....

At a dig site in western Turkey, a centuries-old Byzantine fortress will be revealed

24 December 2021

24 December 2021

Excavation of vast Byzantine-era fortifications considered to be about 900 years old has begun at a dig site in western...

Scientists Find Aztec ‘Death Whistles’ do Weird Things to the Listeners’ Brains

18 November 2024

18 November 2024

New research reveals that one of the Aztecs’ most chilling artefacts, clay death whistles, which resemble a human skull and...

Mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep ‘unwrapped’ for the first time in 3,500 years!

30 December 2021

30 December 2021

Egyptian scientists have digitally unwrapped the 3,500-year-old mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I. For the first time, a team in Egypt...

7,700-year-old Pottery of a Human Head and Jewelry Workshop Unearthed in Kuwait

28 November 2024

28 November 2024

A team of Kuwaiti and Polish archaeologists have uncovered a jewelry workshop at the prehistoric Ubaid period (5500–4000 B.C.) site...