View source for Plowshare

{{refimprove|date=July 2024}}
{{Short description|Pointy front edge of a plow}}
{{Other uses|Ploughshare (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Old plough schema.svg|thumb|200px|Components of a simple drawn plow: 1) beam; 2) three point hitch; 3) height regulator; 4) coulter (or knife) 5) chisel 6) plowshare 7) moldboard
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[[Image:Rosenauerův mlýn - otka.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Instrument for cleaning a plowshare used at a mill near [[Horažďovice]], [[Czech Republic]]]]

In [[agriculture]], a '''plowshare''' ([[Differences between American and British spellings|US]]) or '''ploughshare''' ([[Differences between American and British spellings|UK]]; {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|l|aʊ|ʃ|ɛər}}) is a component of a plow (or [[plough]]). It is the cutting or leading edge, preceding the [[moldboard]], and it closely follows the [[coulter (Agriculture)|coulter]] (one or more ground-breaking [[Nail (fastener)|spikes]]) when plowing.

The plowshare itself is often a hardened [[blade]] dressed into an integral moldboard (by the [[blacksmith]]) so making a unified combination of plowshare and moldboard, the whole being responsible for entering the cleft in the earth (made by the coulter's first cutting-through) and turning the earth over. 

In well-tilled terrain the plowshare may do duty without a preceding coulter.

In modern plows both coulter and plowshare are detachable for easy replacement when worn or broken.

==History==
[[File:Han Iron Ploughshares (9930225556).jpg|thumb|Iron plowshares, [[Han dynasty]]]]
Triangular-shaped stone plowshares are found at the sites of Chinese [[Majiabang culture]] dated to 3500 BC around [[Lake Tai]]. Plowshares have also been discovered at the nearby [[Liangzhu culture|Liangzhu]] and [[Maqiao]] sites roughly dated to the same period. The [[British people|British]] archaeologist [[David R. Harris (geographer)|David R. Harris]] says this indicates that more intensive cultivation in fixed, probably bunded, fields had developed by this time. According to [[Mu Yongkang]] and [[Song Zhaolin's]] classification and methods of use, the triangular plow assumed many kinds and were the departure from the [[Hemudu]] and [[Luojiajiao]] spade, with the [[Songze]] small plow in mid-process. The post-[[Liangzhu culture|Liangzhu]] plows used [[draft animals]].<ref>Harris (1996), 427–428.</ref><ref>[http://http-server.carleton.ca/~bgordon/Rice/papers/YouXiuling99c.rtf You] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706171456/http://http-server.carleton.ca/~bgordon/Rice/papers/YouXiuling99c.rtf |date=2011-07-06 }} (1999), 1–8.</ref>

== In heraldry ==
Plowshares are often used in heraldry.

<gallery>
File:DEU Erding COA.svg|Arms of [[Erding]]
File:DEU Tunau COA.svg|Arms of [[Tunau]]
File:Wappen Leuna.svg|Arms of [[Leuna]]
File:Wappen erlbach.png|Arms of [[Erlbach, Bavaria|Erlbach]]
File:DEU Neuler COA.svg|Arms of [[Neuler]]
File:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati.svg|Arms of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati|Archdiocese of Cincinnati]]
</gallery>

==In ancient cultures==
The ancient phrase from the biblical [[Book of Isaiah]], "to turn [[swords to ploughshares]]," is still in common use today. These plowshares represent peaceful use of wartime capabilities. On the other hand, the [[Book of Joel]] uses the phrase in reverse, "Beat your plowshares into swords".

However, in [[classical antiquity]] during the [[Battle of Marathon]], many [[Persians]] were slain by a deadly plowshare-wielding ally who appeared suddenly on the side of the [[Ancient Athens|ancient Athenians]]. After their victory and his disappearance, an [[oracle]] told the Athenians to [[Greek hero cult|worship the hero]] under the name [[Echetlus|Echetlaeus]]: the hero with the "''echetlon''", or plowshare.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150924092217/http://www.rotherhamweb.co.uk/h/plough.htm The Rotherham Plow - the first commercially successful iron plow]

[[Category:Animal equipment]]
[[Category:Agricultural machinery]]
[[Category:Chinese inventions]]
[[Category:Heraldic charges]]
[[Category:Ploughs]]


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