Editing Digging stick

{{Short description|Primitive wooden implement used primarily by subsistence-based cultures to dig out underground food}}
[[File:Root digging stick at Rocky Reach Dam Museum 2.jpg|alt=|thumb|A digging stick of the Pacific Northwest coast]]
[[File:Nuba_farming_1.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Nuba]] person farming in the [[Nuba Mountains]], [[Sudan]] ]]
A '''digging stick''', sometimes called a '''yam stick''', is a wooden implement used primarily by [[List of subsistence techniques|subsistence-based]] cultures to dig out underground food such as roots and [[tuber]]s, [[tillage|tilling]] the soil,<ref>{{cite web | title=Definition of digging stick | website=[[Dictionary.com]] | date=2021 | url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/digging-stick | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> or [[burrowing animals]] and [[anthill]]s. It is a term used in [[archaeology]] and [[anthropology]] to describe similar implements, which usually consists of little more than a sturdy [[twig|stick]] which has been shaped or sharpened and sometimes hardened by being placed temporarily in a fire.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

Fashioned with handles for pulling or pushing, it forms a prehistoric [[plough]], and is also described as a type of [[Hoe (tool)|hoe]].<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved March 26, 2015, from Britannica.com website: [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/163245/digging-stick Digging stick]</ref>
Digging sticks more than 170,000 years old, made of [[boxwood]] by [[Neanderthal]]s, have been found in Italy.<ref>{{cite journal|display-authors=etal |last1=Biancamaria Aranguren |title=Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy) |journal=[[PNAS]] |date=Feb 5, 2018 |volume=115 |issue=9 |pages=2054–2059 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1716068115|pmid=29432163 |pmc=5834685 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.2054A |doi-access=free }}</ref>

== By region ==
=== Americas ===
In [[Mexico]] and the [[Mesoamerican region]], the digging stick was the most important agricultural tool throughout the region.<ref>[http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=art&tab=two&typ=reg&id=377 Study the Digging Stick] Mexicolore.</ref><ref>[http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=art&id=320&typ=reg Uictli] Mexicolore.</ref>

The ''coa'' stick normally flares out into a triangle at the end and is used for cultivating [[maize]]. It is still used for agriculture in some indigenous communities, with some newer 20th-century versions having the addition of a little metal tip.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

Other digging sticks, according to Native Americans of the Columbia Plateau, have been used since time immemorial to gather edible roots like balsamroot, bitterroot, camas, and varieties of biscuitroot. Typical digging sticks were and are still about 2 to 3 feet in length, usually slightly arched, with the bottom tip shaved off at an angle. A 5 to 8 inch cross-piece made of antler, bone, or wood was fitted perpendicularly over the top of the stick, allowing the use of two hands to drive the tool into the ground. Since contact with the Europeans in the 19th century, Native Americans have also adapted the use of a metal in making digging sticks.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

===Asia-Pacific===
====China====
The Chinese call the digging stick "lei"(耒), which is said to have been invented by Shennong.<ref>《易經·繫辭下》：包犧氏沒，神農氏作，斲木為耜，揉木為耒，耒耨之利，以教天下，蓋取諸益。[https://ctext.org/book-of-changes/xi-ci-xia/zh]</ref> The most primitive lei had only one prong, while improved versions often had two prongs. "lei" is often mentioned together with "si" (耜，[[Hoe_(tool)|push hoe]]) as the most primitive agricultural tool in China.
====Australia====
<!---Yam sticks redirect targets this section--->
Digging sticks are used by many of the [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal peoples of Australia]], for digging up roots and tubers<ref>{{cite web | title=Taungurung Tools & Technology | website=Deadly Story  | url=https://www.deadlystory.com/page/aboriginal-country-map/Aboriginal_Country_In_Development/taungurung/cultural-artefacts/ | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Bush foods and tools | website=[[Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park]]| publisher=[[Parks Australia]] | url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/uluru/discover/culture/bush-foods-and-tools/ | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> and for [[Aboriginal ceremony|ceremonial use]].<ref name=wam>{{cite web | title=Yalangbara: art of the Djang'kawu|first1=Banduk| last1=Marika |last2=West |first2=Margie | website=[[Western Australian Museum]] | date=7 December 2010 | url=http://museum.wa.gov.au/whats-on/yalangbara/background-essay | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>

The [[Gunditjmara]] people of western [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]] used digging sticks, also known as "yam sticks", for digging [[murnong|yams]], [[goanna]]s, ants and other foods out of the ground, as well as for defence, for settling disputes and for punishment purposes as part of [[Indigenous Australian customary law| customary law]].<ref>{{cite web | last=Bissland | first=Emily | title=Gunditjmara stone tools found in University collection sparks art exhibition and hopes of repatriation  | website=ABC News |publisher= [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=23 January 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-23/gunditjmara-tools-leonhard-adam-collection-sparks-exhibition/100659198 | access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref>

==== New Guinea ====
The Kuman people east-central [[New Guinea]] were [[horticulturist]]s who used basic tools such as the digging stick, wooden hoe, and wooden spade in their daily lives. Eventually they started to use more sophisticated tools such as iron spades and pick-axes.<ref name="Nilles">Nilles, John. "The Kuman people: A study of cultural change in a [[Urgesellschaft|primitive society]] in the Central Highlands of New Guinea." Oceania (1953): 1-27.</ref>

Two main types of digging sticks both shared a similar shape but differed in size:

* A larger and heavier digging stick with a diameter of about {{cvt|4|cm}} and {{cvt|2|m}} in length, used for the purpose of turning over the soil surface for new gardens; and
* A smaller and lighter digging stick with a diameter of about {{cvt|2|cm|in}} and {{cvt|1|m}} (or less) in length, mainly used for basic horticulture tasks.<ref name="Nilles"/>

====New Zealand====
[[File:Digging sticks, Rotorua Museum.jpg|alt=|thumb|A [[Māori people|Māori]] digging stick|upright=0.4]]
The [[Māori people]] traditionally use digging sticks, known as a ''kō'' {{cvt|2|m|adj=on}} to {{cvt|3|m|adj=on}}long pole was made of strong and long-lasting wood, with a footrest tied to the shaft and one end fashioned into a narrow blade. They were used for tilling soil ready for planting [[tuber]]s,<ref>{{cite web | title= Gardens - Māori gardens: Kō for digging | website=Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand |first= Maggy |last=Wassilieff |date= 24 Nov 2008 | url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/object/18856/ko-for-digging | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=ko; spade; digging-stick | website=[[The British Museum]] | url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1895-421-a-b | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>  as well as for digging for roots or tubers, and in ceremonial use.<ref>{{cite web | title=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa | website=[[Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa ]] | url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/category/323186 | access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>

===East Africa===
==== Ethiopia  ====

The most common digging stick found in [[Ethiopia]] is the ''ankassay'' in [[Amharic]], a [[Semitic language]] spoken in [[Ethiopia]] and the second-most spoken Semitic language in the world. The ''ankassay'' is a single shaft that is about 4–5 feet in length with a socket-hafted pointed iron blade as the tip.<ref name="Simoons">Simoons, Frederick J. "The Forked Digging Stick of the Gurage", "[[Zeitschrift für Ethnologie]]", Berlin, Retrieved February 27, 2015.</ref>

Two other digging sticks are unique to the Harar region located in East-Central Ethiopia, which are considered to be unusual due to their function beyond the basic use of other digging sticks, and the use of one as a plough.

The ''deungora'' is a particularly long digging stick, which is about 110 centimetres, or approximately 3.6 feet, in length with a socket-hafted pointed iron blade as the tip. What's unique about this digging stick is that a bored stone, about 15 centimetres in diameter, is attached at the opposing end. This stone shares the same form as other bored stones that have been discovered in archaeological sites in [[Africa]].<ref name="Simoons"/>

''Maresha'' is the [[Gurage]] name, also the same word used by the [[Amhara people|Amhara]], for a digging stick that differs in construction because of its forked form. It is used primarily to dig holes for construction, planting, and harvesting roots and tubers. This tool is used as a plow to turn over the soil of an entire field before planting. It is used to break clods of soil in areas where the soil is hard or in areas that may be too steep for ploughing, and to dig holes for construction or to transplant domestic plants. When compared to the ''ankassay'', this digging stick can perform the same duties and in addition can be used as a hoe.<ref name="Simoons"/>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{commons category-inline|Digging sticks}}

{{Prehistoric technology}}

[[Category:Anthropology]]
[[Category:Stone Age]]
[[Category:Gardening tools]]