Spades! Several finds of spades have been found in the terp area of Friesland and Groningen, namely in Oostrum (Fr.) and Joeswerd (Gr.), and possibly also in Ezinge (Gr.). A characteristic feature of these implements is that they are made of a single piece of oak and have a rectangular, slightly tapered blade. This last feature is characteristic of the spade: unlike a shovel – ideally used for scooping, a spade is ideally suited for digging in a more downward direction. The straight, rectangular blade was, for this reason, ideally suited for cutting through sod and peat. Possibly, spades were also used for digging trenches, raising defences such as a burgh or a landweer (an earthen wall with a ditch with thorny hedges in it) and later, raising dykes. The original spades can be admired in the online collections of the Fries Museum and the Groninger Museum.