But the wet-clay moldboard plow required a team of eight oxen—or, better, horses—and who had that sort of wealth? It was most efficient in long, thin strips often a step or two away from someone else’s long, thin strips. As a result, farming became more of a community practice: people had to share the plow and draft animals and resolve disagreements. They gathered together in villages. The moldboard plow helped usher in the manorial system in Northern Europe.9
