July 26, 2016

2668 FRANCE - A farmer and his span of oxen


It seems that the cattle were first harnessed and put to work around 4000 BC, and the castration of bulls to turn them into oxen have happened at about the same time. A little later, the yoke was invented in Mesopotamia and two oxen could be bound firmly together to pull much heavier plows. Light work required just one pair of oxes, while for heavier work, further pairs were added as necessary. A team used for a heavy load over difficult ground might exceeded nine or ten pairs.

Even if the Middle Ages the horses were used intensely in Western Europe, the draft oxen continued to play an important role until the late 19th century and even into the 20th. They persisted in many isolated regions of France, and were also found wherever they could fit in with specialized types of farming. In nowadays, the work with oxen is an everyday reality for millions of farmers around the world, but In Europe has become a minority phenomenon over the last fifty years.

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series European capitals - Nicosia, designed by Louis Arching, and issued on June 26, 2006. The series contains four stamps with the same face value (0.53 EUR):
• Church Chrysaliniotissa - It's on the postcard 2668
• Archaeological Museum
• Famagusta Gate
• The Archbishopric


The last stamp, designed by Didier Thimonier, was issued on February 21, 2005, to mark the anniversary of Rotary International 1905-2005.

References
The Coming of Farming - Time Maps

Sender: Boniface
Sent from Montcuq (Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées / France), on 17.06.2016

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