Important! Due to new custom regulations we can no longer ship outside the E.U. Please make sure you have an EU shipping address before bidding. - Evidence of its use in prehistory is sometimes found at archaeological sites where the long, shallow scratches (ard marks) it makes can be seen cutting into the subsoil. The ard first appears in the mid-Neolithic and is closely related to the domestication of cattle. It probably spread with animal traction in general across the cereal-growing cultures of the Neolithic Old World. Its exact point of origin is unknown, but it spread quickly throughout West Asia, South Asia and Europe in the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic. - Evidence appears in the Near East in the 6th millennium BC. Iron versions appeared c. 2300 BC both in Assyria and 3rd-dynasty Egypt. In Europe, the earliest known wooden ard (at Lavagone in Italy) dates from around 2300-2000 BC, but the earliest scratch marks date from 3500-3000 BC.[8] All of these were bow ards, also depicted in the rock drawings of Bohuslän, Sweden, Copper Age stelae of Valcamonica (3000-2200 BC) and Fontanalba, France. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ard_(plough) Registered shipping. Provenance/Known History: Ex. Private UK collection. Collected before 1970. After that A.A. Gallery, UK. Important information: - We are testing the smart-shipping option. It is not yet 100% flawless so we apologise for any inconvenience. - A declaration of authenticity by my shop is provided with this lot. - Please do not pay for a won item before you are finished bidding in the auction. The system will not be able to combine your orders into one shipping if all items aren't paid at once.