Early medieval spades

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.

Some (early) medieval spades or shovels were equipped with a spade iron that could be attached to the wooden blade. Spade irons increased the strength, durability and lifespan of the spade. However, finds of such reinforcements aren’t known – or recognised as such – from early medieval Frisia. However, examples of spades with spade irons are depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry from the 11th century (see pictures). Furthermore, the tapestry shows that spades may also have served as improvised weapons. This is confirmed by a passage from the Fivelgoër Recht, a fifteenth-century Frisian law text dating back to the ninth century:

Tha kas Magnus thene fifta kere, thet se nene herefert nelde farra fara than aster to there Wisere and wester to tha Fli, vp mitha flod an vt mitha ebbe, thruch thet, thet se hudat (thene ower) deis ande nachtis withen nordischa kening and with thene wilda witzend and thene deikisflod mith fif wepnum: mith swerde, mith schelde, mith spada, mith forka and mith ettegris orde. (Fivelgoër Recht in: IJssennagger, Central because liminal 2017, 121).

Then Magnus chose the fifth statute, that they would not have to go on military duty further east than the Weser and west to the Vlie, land inwards on high tide and back at low tide, whilst they by day as well as by night should defend the sea shore against the northern king and the wild Viking and the daily flood with five weapons: with sword, with shield, with spade, with fork and with spearhead. (transl. N. IJssennagger).

Following up on the post about the reclamations in early medieval Frisia, we decided to make a replica of the spade from Oostrum ourselves. We chose to make this replica without a spade iron, similar to the original. It seemed appropriate to depict our reconstruction against a bogland. The reconstruction also includes a basket with dried peat, which is a reference to the fuel type being extracted.