A plough is a farm implement that turns over the upper layer of soil, bringing fresh nutrients to the surface as part of preparation for sowing seeds or planting. In early agriculture, soil was turned by hand using digging sticks and hoes. The first animal-drawn plough was the ard, with the earliest evidence of a ploughed field dating to the Indus Valley civilisation site of Kalibangan from around 2800 B.C. Wheels were introduced by Celtic peoples during the Roman era, and the mouldboard plough, a major innovation in plough technology, was invented in the 18th century. Modern ploughs are usually reversible ploughs, mounted on a tractor.
This painting, Ploughing in the Nivernais, was completed by the French artist Rosa Bonheur in 1849 and is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.Painting: Rosa Bonheur