Agriculture

Number of Cases

1000

Agriculture was the basic economic activity in the countryside. Cultivating the land and growing crops lasted most of the year, so numerous tools were used for plowing, harrowing, sowing, fertilizing, digging, mowing, collecting and packing.

Various devices and vehicles were used for certain works with the use of working animals and agricultural machinery.

It was plowed with the help of an ard and a plough. Tillage with plows was done with artisanal wooden, semi-iron and industrial iron plows. The collection also includes ploughshares as well as equipment related to them and plows, among which are items from the ancient and medieval periods - a yoke, teljig, špartač, a harrow, crtalo and a kopralo. The collections of hoes, mattocks, pickaxes, shovels, spades and scythes tell about soil cultivation in the collection.

There is also a large collection of sickles and scythes with equipment for their breaking, sharpening and maintenance. Among them are two items of exceptional importance - primitive agricultural implements for threshing grain called dikmeni, the origin of which is indicated by identical flint remains found within the site of the Neolithic culture of Vinča.

The collection consists of about 1,000 items.

The curator in charge of the collection is Dr. Marko Stojanović, museum advisor: marko.stojanovic@etnografskimuzej.rs

Plowshare

Inv. No. 4506

Whetstone holder – vodir

Inv. No. 4562

Ridge – dikmen

Inv. No. 5106

Sickle

Inv. No. 29308

Hoe

Inv. No. 30021

Plough

Inv. No. 489

Sickle

Inv. No. 51433

Rake

Inv. No. 51451

Thresher – krunjača

Inv. No. 8231

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Plowshare

Inv. No. 4506

The plowshare is a sharp metal part of the plow. A large and massive item, asymmetrical in shape. It was used with a wooden plow for plowing.

Markovac, Velika Plana, Šumadija
20th century

Whetstone holder – vodir

Inv. No. 4562

The whetstone holder, known as vodir, is used for sharpening scythes. It is made of oak wood. The exhibited vodir belongs to the belly-shaped type. This type of vodir is found in Carinthia and Tyrol (provinces in Austria).

Mrkonjić Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
20th century, first half

Ridge – dikmen

Inv. No. 5106

Among the numerous tools and implements for agricultural work, a unique primitive farming tool for threshing wheat, made of flint, stands out — a dikmen. The museum houses two such items. They date back to prehistoric times, as evidenced by finds from the archaeological site of Vinča, made from the same flint. These items have been in the museum for over a century.

Morihovo, Macedonia
19th century

Sickle

Inv. No. 29308

An old forged sickle (a tool for harvesting) consists of a handle and the sickle blade. The blade is semicircular, tapering to a point at the end. It was purchased at the market in Trgovište (southern Serbia) in 1968. The blacksmith Božin from Trgovište crafted it.

Barace, Vranjska Pčinja, Serbia
Second half of the 20th century

Hoe

Inv. No. 30021

The hoe is an agricultural tool used for digging and cultivating soil. It is made of steel and consists of a blade, neck, and socket. It was used for cultivating crops such as corn and potatoes.

Prizren, Metohija
Second half of the 20th century

Plough

Inv. No. 489

Plough is a traditional agricultural implement used for plowing the land, typically pulled by oxen. It is crafted by rural artisans, usually wheelwrights. The earliest written mention of the plough in the Serbian language appears in the 14th-century Serbian translation of the Byzantine Geoponika (Agricultural Law), where it is described as a plowing tool.

Đakovica, Metohija
Early 20th century

Sickle

Inv. No. 51433

Harvesting tool. The blade is semicircular, narrowing into a pointed tip at the end. Though still in use today, it is much less common.

Prnjavor, Mačva, Serbia
First half of the 20th century

Rake

Inv. No. 51451

The object consists of a metal part – a rake with sturdy tines – and a wooden handle. These are made by skilled villagers and sold at markets and fairs. They are used for gathering hay, grass, and straw. The tool is still in use today.

Knjaževac, Timok Krajina, Serbia
Mid-20th century

Thresher – krunjača

Inv. No. 8231

A type of mill made of sheet metal, rectangular in shape, with three openings lined with teeth on the inside. The handle is inscribed with: PATENT DELIĆEV KRUNJAČ. It was used for shelling corn.

Žitorađa, Toplica, Central Serbia
20th century