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Though Moldboard Plows were a vey big deal, their days were, sadly, numbered. [person pushes wooden plow]

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Cool as they were, they had their limitations. [plow breaks]

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They were wooden, so they definitely weren't indestructible.

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And seriously, there's a reason why Superman is the man of steel, not the man of wood. [Superman on fire]

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Moldboard Plows were also pretty lightweight. [plow blows away]

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In regions with sandy soils, like the Mediterranean, lightweight plows were no problem, but for [happy plow in Mediterranean]

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folks living in Northern Europe, they were about as useful as a fork is for eating soup... [people struggle with soup forks]

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which might work for a hearty soup like minestrone or chowder...

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But anyway, that's not the issue.

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We're just kind of hungry here.

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So what was the issue?

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Well, Northern Europe had heavy, rocky, clay soils that were not a whole lot of fun to

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plow. [soil comparisons]

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Maybe that's one reason those ancient Europeans turned to herding goats, sheep, and cattle

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for most of their food. [Northern European steals sheep]

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Well, for their urban revolution to take hold in Northern Europe, heavy wheeled plows were

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needed, and they couldn't just order them on Amazon with free 3-day shipping.

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The very first heavy wheeled plows were made in China around 200 C.E. [person makes plow]

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China already had pretty advanced ironworking, so they used their skills to make the world's

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first cast iron plow. [people team up to make plow]

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Well, these bad boys were way tougher than wooden ones.

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They were also insanely heavy.

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How did the Chinese handle these things?

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Were they just ridiculously strong as a people? [this guy definitely lifts]

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Nope.

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Well, that guy was...

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But for the regular folk, they put a wheel on the back of the plow that stopped it from [wheel on plow demonstrated]

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digging too deeply.

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That meant a person could just steer it without holding up its weight.

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Well, the heavy wheeled plow didn't hit Europe until about 700 C.E. [Europe finally catches up]

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Yeah, way to miss the fad there, guys.

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But it did eventually revolutionize European agriculture.

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These fancy new plows could get through Europe's tough soil way more effectively than little

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scratch plows could. [old plows burn]

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That meant that more nutrients could be churned to the surface and some areas that were considered

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un-farmable were suddenly very farmable. [guy farms on rough terrain]

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Well, the population exploded, cities appeared, more crafts and specialties started, you know,

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happening, and Europe took a great leap closer to world domination. [sunglasses guy has a job now]

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Hey, it's hard to pillage, plunder, and colonize on an empty stomach. [awkward dinner]

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